Severus Snape and the secret of the temflectous
by Manus Fati
Summary: Severus Snape's childhood friend is a Temflectous, and can travel through time at her will, but when she accidentally gets sent over 20 years into the future, she has to find her way back to her best friend and the boy she loves. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

~Chapter One~

Top of Form 1

Bottom of Form 1

It was mid-morning, December 20th, 1970, and it was raining at Spinner's End. A young boy with greasy black hair, and a rather large nose could be seen looking out a broken window at the cobbled streets below. Looking at his house you could see that it was just as unkempt as the street it sat on. The shutters were falling off the hinges, the paint chipping from the walls, even the fence was rotting. Inside his room was just a tattered dresser, a moth eaten rug, and a single four post bed. It was on this bed that the boy sat waiting out the fight between his parents in the next room. This was how he spent most of his time, here at his window, or on the roof, anywhere out of the way of his father. Nothing was worse than crossing his father's path. The slam of a door, and loud a ruckus came from the hallway. The boy got up from his bed and crossed the room to close his door.

"Severus?" The boy was startled to here his name being called from out side the window. Moving back over to his bed, he leaned over the dingy sheets to look out the window. There standing just behind the bushes stood a girl with raven curls waving at him to come down. A sad excuse for a smile spread across his face then he climbed out of the window and descended to the wet grass below.

"You've been up there all winter Sevey. I was starting to wonder if you'd ever come out." She said with a smile, her dark eyes smiling too.  
"Well I have to get some vitamin D sometime, don't I Nutmeg?"

"You're not much going to get it today. Or anytime soon, I'm afraid." Meg stretched out her arm catching the raindrops in her hand. She was right, the sun hadn't come out for weeks, and Severus would be surprised if it showed before June. Nevertheless it was always good to see her face and to hear her voice, one that never raised much above a whisper. "I can never get away from it! It's, you, you and that, that Boy!" The voice of his father, Tobias Snape, could be heard from the upstairs window.

"I thought they stopped fighting?" The last time he saw Meg he might have mentioned the arguments had dimmed down a bit. "Doesn't your father like it here?"  
"He doesn't like anything, much. But I'll be gone soon." Severus looked up at the broken window to his room, took a quick glance at the sky, and back at Meg. "Let's go, shall we?"

Once they got to the playground a little past Spinner's End, it was an easy walk, no loose stones to trip over, just a smooth concrete road all the way to Meg's home. The rain had turned to snow and they were both shivering by the time they reached her front door. Like the street, Meg's house was nicely kept, the bushes were neatly trimmed, and there was no sign of chipping paint anywhere. The grass in the yard almost seemed as if it were green all year long.

"What have you been doing all winter anyhow?" She asked him, her fingers numbly fumbling with the key. He gave a rare, truly happy smile, and helped her open the door. "Do you remember the day we met?"

"How could I not, you and your stories." Nutmeg rolled her eyes at the thought of forgetting the happenings of that day. She remembered it as clearly as if it had happened last week. It had been the most horrible day, it was snowing nonstop, and she couldn't seem to get anything right, not to mention the strange things that had been going on were getting worse. Chocolate raisins in the window display of the candy shop disappearing and reappearing in her hand, Things floating about her room with no reason about it, even time seemed warped at moments. Stranger things had happened but never as often. She was on her way home from a friends house when she saw a boy just outside the chain link fence around the playground in her neighborhood, like she had seen him every day. He never went inside the gate though, it was as if he were just waiting there, watching the other children. It was that day, out of curiosity that she stopped to talk to him, and because of this, it was that day, she was told she was a witch.

"You're not going to tell me another story about magic are you Sevey?" How Nutmeg hated those stories, because that's just what they were, stories and nothing else. Yet Severus always told them with such passion and vigor that it was hard to doubt that he believed them. Tales of warlocks and centaurs simply couldn't be true. Severus just gave what seemed to be a crooked smile and followed her down the main hall.

_She'll come to realize the truth sooner or later, she has to. _And with that thought he left the subject alone. Meg's kitchen was warm and darkly lit, but just bright enough to be cheerful. In the air was the smell of chicken and spices. Two mugs, filled to the rim with hot cocoa and whipped cream, were on the bar waiting for them. A woman with curly strawberry blonde hair was standing at the stove.

"Severus is here, mum." Meg walked immediately to the counter to pick up the mug closest to them before going to the stove to see what her mother was cooking.

"Oh, hello Severus. Your welcome to some cocoa, I just made it before you got here." Nutmeg's mother turned around to greet her daughter's friend. She looked exactly like her daughter, except her hair. She had the same sweet smile, and the same dark eyes, she was beautiful.

"Thank you, Mrs. LeTore, but I really shouldn't spoil my dinner." Not that Severus was truly worried about being too full, he wasn't used to homemade cocoa, or any kind of homemade food. His mother, Eileen, was a witch and had always used magic to cook, if she ever did cook, which wasn't often at all. Truth be told, he preferred magic made food, it was never burned and it always tasted delicious. But he walked to the counter, picked up the mug and gladly took a few sips anyway.

"Well, we just won't tell you mother then." Mrs. LeTore gave a smile, the only difference between her smile and Meg's, is that she crinkled her nose. "Meg, can you watch the stove?"

"Sure, mum." Meg said leaning against the counter next to the stove. She took a sip of cocoa and watched her mother leave the kitchen to attend to some unfinished business. And then she turned to Severus, "You never told my why you've kept yourself lock up in your room since September." She looked at him curiously behind her mug which she always kept close to her mouth when drinking something warm.

"I thought you didn't want to hear any… 'stories'" Severus looked down to his cocoa with a fake crooked smile and started playing with the half melted whipped cream dripping over the edge.

"Well I didn't say exactly that…" Meg's response was muffled as she looked down at the floor. "I mean what could possibly make an 11 year old boy lock himself in his room for 4 months?" After a few seconds of silence and playing with her feet Nutmeg looked up across the kitchen at her friend. A sound, like a giggle, came from her before she said anything, "Well?"

Severus didn't say anything, there was nothing he could say, nothing she would believe. After all these years, after everything she's seen herself, and him, do, she still refused to believe magic wasn't just a fairy tale.

"I really must go, Meg."

And with that, he turned and left, Meg at his heels following him to the door.

"I'll see you tomorow then?" She waited for a reply, but he made none. There was no reason for one, he just simply left. She would find out on her own soon enough, no use in him, once again, trying to convience her of her blood, the happening that she had been born a witch, unlike her muggle parents.


	2. Chapter 2

Bottom of Form 1

~Chapter 2~

"Meg! Time to get up, its late!" Mrs. LeTore called up the stairs to Nutmeg's room. Meg rubbed her eyes as they adjusted to the sunlight leeking in through the partially open shade on her window. It was ten o'clock, it _was_ late. Jumping out of bed, she almost tripped over her nightstand. As she ran down the stairs she was still dressing. She gave a short greeting to her mother and grabbed a fresh muffin as she headed out the door.

"Where are you going?" Meg's mother asked just as meg was about to slam the door.

"It's Sevey's birthday mum, I have to go see him." Before her mother could voice a reply she was out the door and headed down the street. It wasn't raining, but it was cold and cloudy, just like every other winter day. There was still a little snow left from the last time she had seen her friend, it was browned and speckled from rain but had not yet melted. Given the weather she was surprised to see an owl fly over head.

"Nutmeg, wait! You forgot your coat!" Mrs. LeTore came walking down the driveway with a black wool coat in her hands. "You're going to freeze if you go out like that." The coat wasn't all she was holding, in her other hand was an envelope addressed to 'Nutmeg Ginger LeTore'. "Here, this was with the mail as well." She put on the coat and took the letter and once again was off.

The envelope was made of parchment, she turned it over and as she opened it noticed the wax seal marked with an 'H' on the back. Continuing to walk she pulled out the letter and read its contents.

_ Dear Ms. LeTore,  
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.  
Yours sincerely,  
Albus Dumbledore  
Deputy Headmaster_

"Looks like you got your letter too." Meg looked up surprised to find her self at severus' house, Severus standing next to her, a smirk on his face, holding the envelope which she had dropped.

"Yeah," Nutmeg looked back down at the letter in her hands. It had to be a joke, but was she really doubting what she held right there in her hands. Her voice ran dry and she couldn't say anything else as she looked back to Severus, a disbelieving twist on her features.

"This is what I'd been waiting for Meg, this was my ticket out of here." The truest smile she had ever seen on his face grew more as he talked about the school, he walked up to his door as he talked, and she followed, listening for the first time to what he had to say about magic. She had never been inside his house before, no doubt his father wasn't home, because there was no fighting coming from any of the rooms. As they passed through the front hall Meg could barely make out the worn and broken frames of moving pictures hanging on the wall. The lighting was so dark it made the place seem even more run down than it was, but it wasn't dark enough to keep her from seeing all the magical objects in the house. Passing the kitchen she could have sworn she saw the dishes washing themselves. On the way up the stairs were more moving photographs and paintings. All the while Severus still going on about this magic school called Hogwarts.

"Sevey," Meg stopped him in mid sentence, "Is this why your father hates it here? Because of the magic?"

The look on his face made her feel as if she had over stepped her bounds, and she quickly ment to apologize before an old woman came striding down the hall and past the two children. She walked straight past them, with no more than a glare, her dress and robe bringing up layers of dust that had probably never been cleaned. After the woman, who meg assumed was Severus mother went into the room behind them, Meg shot her friend and apologetic look, "S-sorry, I, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay." Just as the words came out of his mouth a broom came by of its own accord, though its effectiveness was questionable.

"Severus, I think I believe you now." She watched the broom go down the upstairs hall and knock down a lamp then go down the stairs. There wasn't much she couldn't believe now, after seeing it first hand, she soon realized she had no excuse for not seeing it before, other than shear stubbornness. Another smile spread across Severus' face, another truly rare, genuine smile. "Guess I'm the one getting surprised on your birthday."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story.**

"So, you just walk through?" Meg looked questioningly at the brick wall infront of her. It was almost September, and it was time to go to Hogwarts. According to her mother, the train to take her was just on the other side. Mrs. LeTore was not at all surprised when her daughter, who would have been turning 11 that summer, came running in with an acceptance letter to a school of wizardry. Nutmeg was a half blood witch, of course, given the pureblood of her father. He had left when she was a child, leaving her mother, who knew nothing much of magic, to raise Meg. So she had just stayed quiet until recently.

"Yes, thats what i understand, now go." With a smile her mother nudged her towards the passage way to the platform. Grabbing her trunk Nutmeg broke in to a run, straight at the wall. But instead of the expected impact, she passed straight through. Smoke filled the air as she looked around at everyone gathering on the platform, the train awaiting it's student passengers. Too amazed to watch were she was going she ran into something in front of her, and ended up on the ground looking up at a tall boy with curly black hair.

"Hey, watch were your goi-" When he saw her on the ground he started to laugh. "What are you doing down there, girl?" As the boy leaned down to help her up she could see he was about her age, she wouldn't doubt if it was his first year as well. "Sirius Black," There was a sparkle in his eyes when he smiled at her, "and you a-"

"Nutmeg!" Severus' voice called out from behind her, spinning around she saw her friend running towards her.

Everything suddenly became blurred, and Megs head began to spin. It seemed as if her surroundings went speeding past her until she was so dizzy she couldn't look anymore. Trying hard to close her eyes she discovered that she couldn't move at all, not even her eyelids.

And then it stopped.

"Hey, watch were your goi-" Black was standing over her again, and she was once more on the ground. "What are you doing down there, girl?" He was laughing again and, just as before, leaned down to help her. "Sirius Black," He said, intoducing himself again, Megan was still stunned from what was happening. "And you a-"

"Nutmeg!" Severus was running back over to her and Black. "I thought you weren't gonna show," Severus gave her a fake smile, but upon seeing Black his smile faded and he awkwardly backed away, a bit more behind Meg.

"What just happened?" She said, still dizzy, and holding her head.

"Well, you fell down, an-" She looked up at Severus not quite understanding his explanation.

"No Sevey, I mean, why, why did it happen twice?" The look of confusion on Severus' face and the way Black was looking at her like she'd gone mental made her realize that they had no idea what she was talking about. "Never mind, it was just... deja vu."

She turned around again to thank the boy for helping her up, but he was on his way to talk to another student. He seemed nice enough, he looked back at her and smiled, then at Severus, but the look Black gave her friend was nothing more than a small grimace.

"Well come on then, we'll miss the train." She gathered her things and followed Severus, soon they would be on their way to Hogwarts. The train was stuffed full of first years attempting to find an empty car. Severus and Meg pushed their way through the crowded mess to find one for themselves. Severus stopped and looked into a car just ahead of them, but upon seeing who was inside he kept walking. As Meg approached the car she saw what caused him to keep walking, it was occupied. Inside the car was the boy she had run into earlier talking to another boy wearing glasses. She noticed his black hair was quite messy and stuck up in the back. Severus looked back to see where his friend had gone, "Come on Meg, we don't want to sit in there."

Black looked up to see them, Meg still looking away just as he did. The boy got up from his seat and slid open the door. "Fancy seeing you here. Meg, was it?" Black slipped between her and Severus into the crowded hall, the charming smile spreading across his face as before. "Why don't you sit in here, with us," Meg thought of his offer, and gave Severus a look, maybe he was wrong about them. Black looked behind him and almost laughed. "I mean just you, not that greasy cousin of mine."

"Excuse me?" Nutmeg was astounded at the simple insult that came from his mouth, as if it was nothing. "As charming as you might look, you're not the friendliest of beasts are you?" She pushed straight past a shocked looking Black to follow Severus to a new car.

"Well, distant cousin. very distant." They had found a car not soon after that and Meg had remembered what Black had said. "We're not exactly on friendly terms either." Severus was sitting sideways in the seat, feet up, arms around his legs and his chin resting on his knees. A book of spells laid open in front him, his wand out. "I mean its not like family means anything much, these days everyone with magic blood is related really." A flick of his wand, "Wingardium Leviosa" and the book began to float before him. Holding the book there, Severus began to read and didn't say another word for the rest of the train ride.

"Severus, look!" Meg leaned towards the window. "We're almost there!"

Severus dropped his book to stand up and look out the window, as she had said, there was Hogwarts castle approaching in the distance. "Geuss we better get in our robes then." He looked down at Nutmeg who was now giving him a glare, rubbing her foot. "Oh, Sorry Meg."

"Bloody hell that book is heavy Severus, what is it?" Meg's foot was still hurting by the time they had gotten off the train. She couldn't imagine any book could be that big.

"Standard Book of Spells. Im sorry Meg, I just got distracted with you yelling like you did." The new students looked before them to find boats prepared to cross over the lake. Past the lake was Hogwarts castle, they were at school, and Severus was free.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story.**

First period potions was the last place Nutmeg wanted to be. Looking up from her mangled attempt at a sleeping drought, she couldn't see any part of the instructions which she had done wrong. Not only was it her worst subject, but Severus had not shown up to class. It wasn't like him to miss a class unless it was absolutely necessary. Actually, she can't ever recall him missing potions. Sometime umongst her wonderings she knocked over her potion and the entire classroom went up in smoke, so thick Meg couldn't see her fallen cauldron right in front of her.

"_Evanesco!_" the smoke cleared immediately and the spilled drought had vanished as well, "Ms. LeTore, if you're not going to pay attention to what you're doing then leave. You're not going to pass your O.W.L.S like that. Neither will the rest of the class with all your bumbling." She looked up from where the mess had previously been to see a very irritated potions master.

"Sorry, Proffessor Slughorn, it won't happen again." Meg gathered her cauldron back up and refered back to her potions book to start over. However much she ment her apology, she couldn't help spills and explosions that came later still with no finished product. The class was over and there was no possible way she had passed that days assignment.

"Chizpurfle." Meg had made sure the Slytherin common room was empty, being a Hufflepuff herself she wasn't supposed to even know where it was. Often enough, though, she had snuck in to see Severus, fate would have it they were put in separate houses. The passage way opened to allow her into the familiar dungeon like room darkly lit with green lamps. "Severus? Are you here?" She walked further into the common room to see a boy with greasy hair bent over a book on the couch. She walked behind him and lightly touched his shoulder to get his attention.

Startled by the sudden presence of her hand, Severus looked up from the potions book, quil in hand, to find his best friend standing behind him. "Meg, what are you doing here?"

"Thought I'd check up on you, is all. You missed potions this morning." Meg looked over his shoulder at what he was writing, but he pulled away and turned the other direction.

"Oh, I, I must have lost track of the time." He looked down once more and continued to write his notes upon the pages of his text book. It seemed he wasn't much paying attention to anything but that book and what ever it was he was writing. For the past five years at Hogwarts it was very rare for them to be apart, just as it was before Hogwarts and magic. Still, just the same, it was also rare that Severus didn't have his nose in a book, a very large book at that. While in his studies and moments like these she found her time better spent just leaving him be.

"Sure you don't want to come outside Sevey?" All she got in response was a passive grunt as Severus continued to focus on his work. Before Meg left she made a quick glance backwards at the boy, and couldn't help but smile to herself.

The corridors back from the Slytherin common room were sometimes quite tricky to navigate, but she soon found the light of the sun shining in the main corridors once again.

Traveling the grounds wasn't at all something she did very often. The day was so beautiful, however, she just couldn't contain herself, even the womping willow was somewhat peaceful. A pair of blue jays flew accross her path as she was heading down towards the Great Lake and caught her off gaurd. Watching the two birds flutter off throughout the air she lost her footing, causing her to trip over the loose gravel and stones.

"Seems everytime I see you you're on the ground, Nutmeg." Sirius Black and his pack of sniveling Gryffindors were headed her way, and getting close. She pulled herself back to her feet and came face to face with Black and Potter. Behind the pair were two other boys from Gryffindor house. One was rather fat and mouse like, the other was slightly pale with dark brown hair.

"It's LeTore, to you Black if you don't mind." Meg looked down at her robes covered with gravel and dirt and dusted herself off.

"Come now, I'd like to know you on a bit of a first name basis, Meg." His friends began to laugh, but he kept his face straight and just smiled at her. A moment of silence passed after his remark to which she had nothing to say.

"Whats the matter LeTore? Not much of a talker when your precious _Snivellus _isn't around?" James Potter stepped forward, the same stupid smirk he had every time he mentioned Severus. How she would just love to teach him his lesson, the arrogant git. Her hand clucthed tighter around her wand. "Missing your little puppet are you?"

"And whats with you Potter? Feeling insecure with no one to ridicule?" He was pathetic like the rest of them, the whole lot of them.

"James, must you irritate her?" Meg felt Blacks hand run through her hair. "That was quite a fall, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She jerked away from him as fast as she possibly could. "Just great. Actually." She gave a glare at Potter and tried to make her way back up to the castle, only the persistant Black cut her off. Black was as charming and handsome as they come, but she'd seen him at his worst too. Though he wasn't nearly as bad as Potter, his worst wasn't exactly pleasant.

"You could be a bit more friendly than that couldn't you, Meg? I havn't done anything to you." He said it with that smile of his, the same smile he gave her when she ran into him at the train station thier first year. However her hostility towards him wasn't due to what he had done to her, but what he had done to Severus. Potter wasn't the only one who was a pompous git, though Black to a lesser degree, he still chimed in on the ridicule and humiliation. She couldn't really help but hate him, just standing by watching and participating in the cruel jokes preformed by his best friend. "It's not about Snape is it, the bloody grease ball can take care of himself, I reckon."

"_Waddiwasi_." Meg had pulled out her wand and sent a rock at high speeds to hit Black right in the nose.

"My face, my beautiful face!" Black held his nose as he bent over, the stone obviously effective but not very harmful. Potter pulled out his wand as well followed by the other two, a boy named Lupin and another they referred to as Wormtail. "Bloody hell." By the time Black had recovered Meg had made her way half way up the path and back to the castle. On her way to the basement, she ran into another Gryffindor, much to her dismay it happened to be Lilly Evans.

"Nutmeg!" Lilly ran up to her, this was not a good day. "Have you seen Sev? He wasn't in class this morning and I can't seem to find him anywhere." Lilly had also befriended Severus just two years ago, not long after that did it spark an unexpected jealousy in Meg to see them together. She hated to see the look in Severus' eyes when Lilly approached them, when she talked, it was like nothing else existed to him.

"No, I haven't Lilly, I'm sorry." Of course Meg lied, why would she want Lilly disturbing him right now anyway? It's not like she needed anything important. Without waiting for a reply she darted down to the basement and into the Hufflepuff common room. She was convinced that there was absolutely nothing that could make her day worse.


	5. Chapter 5

~Chapter 5~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story.**

Meg rubbed her eyes, sometime after she had gotten back she had fallen asleep in the common room. Her stomach started to rumble as she sat up, she had slept straight through the night. There was another rumble from her stomach and she realized breakfast was over, but it might not be to late. Straightening her robes, she started to head down to the kitchens to see if she could convince the house elves to slip her a snack. It wasn't easy if you didn't ask the right elf, and sometimes it was down right impossible.

It wasn't to far past the Grand staircase that she ran into the Fat Friar. "Good Morning, Nutmeg. Beautiful day isn't it?"

"It is I suppose, I haven't been outside. I just woke up." The ghost gave a hearty laugh at her response as she timidly continued to walk through him, giving her the chills. Extoplasm was quite slimy and cold when passed through, not the best feeling in the world.

"Better get a move on, you'll be late for your first class." The Fat Friar continued to go down his path and pass through the wall to the Hufflepuff common room. He was right though, breakfast was a lost cause if she didn't want to be late for transfiguration. Getting on Professor McGonagall's bad side was not something she wanted to do.

"Ms. LeTore, so good of you to join us." Professor McGonagall was at the front of the room holding her wand out in front of her. On her desk was a bird, a magnificent bird as well. "We were going over the _Avifors_ charm, if you would take a seat."

Nutmeg looked at her feet as she walked to the front of the class room. Taking her seat beside Severus, Meg pulled out her wand and her text book. Professor McGonagalls voice trailed into the background of her mind as her eyes lowered to her desk. In front of her sat a crystal goblet, no different from the glasses in front of the rest of the students in the class. She had already missed too much of the lesson to know what was going on.

"Severus," Meg kept her eyes on her goblet, and tried to be as quiet as possible. "What's she going on about?" Meg didn't even know why she bothered. After getting no response she looked up at him and saw that familiar look on his face, zoned out and unreachable. He wasn't looking at the lesson board or Professor McGonagall, but across the aisle. Following his gaze she ended up looking at a Gryiffindor with dark red hair and brilliant green eyes. Much to Meg's dismay Severus once again had his head wrapped around Lilly Evans. Meg felt her hand wrap tighter and tighter around her wand until it almost broke.

"Ms. LeTore, you were already late." Meg looked up, another one of her professors getting cross with her. Professor McGonagall was about to say something else when Megs vision became blurred. The entire classroom began spinning around her. Everything moved faster and faster making her sick, untill, it stopped. "-greatly appreciated if you would pay..." Proffessor Mcgonagall's voice trailed off as she looked at her student in utter surprise. Meg stopped and looked around once her head stopped spinning. Not only was Professor McGonagall staring, but so was the rest of the class.

"Meg, did you learn how to apparate?" A voice came from accross the asile.

"Where did you go?" Another voice came from the back of the room.

The entire class was suddenly talking at once trying to figure out what had just happened. One moment Nutmeg was sitting in class with them, the next she had disappeared, only to reappear a few moments later. At least she had gotten Severus' attenttion, his hand was at her waist trying to keep her from falling off her chair. She was still _very_ dissy.

"Ms. LeTore, please come with me." Professor McGonagall had made her way to Meg's desk. With Severus' help the proffessor pulled Meg to her feet. "Ms. LeTore," The old woman's shocked voice was the last thing she heard before loosing consciousness. "Ms. Evans, come help us, we need to get her to the hospital wing."

Meg awoke to the smell of different medical potions and the sound of Professor McGonagall's voice. "I've never seen one in person. I wasn't sure if they existed, Albus."

"Though very rare, they do indeed exist Minevra." Professor Dumbledore's voice wasn't as familiar to her, but she recognized him with little effort. All she could do was listen, she was still exhausted from the incident and her eyes would not open. "Although, her abilities must be controlled. horrible things happen to wizards who mess with time. Whether they mean to or not."

Meg could hear a set of footsteps walking away from her. She listened to the sound get farther away untill they eventually faded into the hallway. Gathering her strength she opened her eyes and looked around, she was in the Hospital Wing. Lifting her hand to her forehead she realized she had a splitting headache. "Professor," Meg saw Professor McGonagall at the door way as she looked about the room. "Professor, what happened?"


	6. Chapter 6

~Chapter 6~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story.**

"A temflectous?" Severus had never heard of the term before. "I'm not quite sure I understand." The Great Hall was filled with students eating lunch. At the Hufflepuff table, Meg's plate was untouched, and Severus once again had a book in his hands. To his right was Evans eating her fill while attempting to do her charms essay.

"That's what the professor said." Meg had been released from the Hospital Wing just a few days ago. "Something about shifting time." Professor McGonagall called Meg to her office to talk about what had happened in class. It was evident that Meg had preformed a type of very rare magic. Unfortunately, it was such a rare occurrence, it was believed to be myth. No one really knew much about it.

"So, you're traveling through time?" Evans chimed in, looking up from her paper, her mouth half full. Meg gave her a disgusted look, she didn't understand why she had to be around all the time.

"Apparently so." Despite her bitter tone, Meg wasn't much paying attention to the Gryffindor. She had never gone forward before, only back. Moving in the opposite direction was positively exhausting. Her mind wandered back to the words Professor Dumbledore had spoken in the Hospital Wing, _'horrible things happen to wizards who mess with time.' _One thing was for sure, Dumbledore was right, she had to control it. "I have to go, sorry."

Meg gathered her things and left her full plate along with her friends at the table. She walked down the aisle and straight out the doors past a group of in coming fifth years. Among them was a tall dark haired girl with heavy lidded eyes. Bellatrix Black and another boy from Slytherin were headed straight over to Severus. She noticed Severus had been hanging around them a lot more often than usual these days. Meg couldn't help but wonder what they were up to. Although, she knew they were up to no good, Bella never was. But Nutmeg didn't have time for them, she _had _to find Professor McGonogall. Making a left towards the grand staircase, she made her way up to the transfiguration corridor where Professor McGonogall's office was.

"Professor?" Meg knocked on the last door of the corridor, and waited for her teacher to answer. Soon enough the large wooden door opened to clear the frame in which the old woman now stood.

"Ms. LeTore," Professor McGonogall stepped forward with a smile. Holding out her arm she gestured Meg inside, "To what do I owe this visit?"

"Well, I was just wondering," Meg stepped inside but did not make herself at home. She continued to stand in the doorway as Professor McGonogall made her way over to her desk. "It's just that, what you say I can do, you said it was transfiguration." Meg looked down at her feet as she continued to talk, "So, I was hoping you could help me control it?"

"I'm sorry, Ms. LeTore." Professor McGonogall gave a sympathetic look as she crossed in front of her desk. She walked over to Meg and took her hand, "I'm afraid that is something you'll have to figure out on your own. The magic that gives the ability to a temflectous is very rare magic, indeed. Little is known about it, except that you are transfiguring time around you. In other words, you are bringing the past or future to you, instead of the other way around." Professor Mcgonogall gave a sigh as she guided Meg back to the door. "That's all, I'm afraid, that I know on the matter."

"Thank you, Professor." Meg let the professor's guiding touch lead her out the door. "Sorry to bother you." There wasn't much she could do at that point. If Professor McGonogall didn't know any more on the matter, then she didn't know who else would. Perhaps Dumbledore might, but then, she didn't know if she could ever reach him. Dumbledore was hardly ever at the castle, and when he was, it was very brief.

"Chizpurfle." Once again, Meg had made her way down to the Slytherin common room. This time it was completely empty, the fire slowly burning out in the corner of the room. The emptiness was to be expected really, she'd come close to curfew. Either they were all sneaking about, or they'd gone to bed. She sleepily made her way over to the fireplace which was decorated in different sized skulls. Just as she sat down by the warm glow she heard footsteps headed down the stairs. Her heart beat faster as she looked up to see who was coming down.

"Meg? What are you doing here?" It was Severus, still in his robes as always. She gave nothing but a warm smile in reply as he made his way to her. "What were you off in such a hurry about today?"

"I thought I would ask Professor McGonogall if she could help." Meg looked into the fire to warm her face, as much of a welcoming place the dungeon like room was, it was awfully cold.

"Well?" Severus sat down beside her and rubbed his eyes, he'd been out most nights recently. Going who knows where with that group of Slytherins he'd taken a liking to.

"Unfortunately she knows about as much as I do." Meg looked up from the fire and at her friend. Studying his face she could see the dark circles about his eyes, not only that but there was a sadness to them; alook that had not been there earlier that day. "What did Bella want any ways? You sure are hanging about that group a lot."

"Not you too?" The sadness in his eyes turned to pain as he looked down. Severus cupped his face in his hands. After a moment or two he ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "I'm sorry, Lilly brought up that same thing today. Said they're never up to any good."

"Sorry, it's just," Meg decided it best to keep her mouth shut, that was exactly what she had thought earlier that day. "What was it you were reading today anyway, Sevey? It didn't look much like a bit of light reading." Meg leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder as her words faded into a yawn.

"It's nothing really, just a book I found in the restricted section." Severus thought he would refrain from mentioning the contents unless he was asked. Dark magic, as the name suggests wasn't exactly smiled upon. He looked down at Meg, her eyes closed, on the edge of consciousness. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked, even as she slept. He looked away and into the fire for a few moments. Even Lilly was nothing compared to this girl, his best friend. "Meg, you should go to your common room. Get some sleep, you know?" When he didn't feel the weight of her head leave his shoulder he looked back down hat Nutmeg who was now fast asleep. He half smiled as he slipped his arm behind her back. With a little difficulty he managed to pick her up and carry her up to the dorm. It looked like Meg would be spending another night at Slytherin house.


	7. Chapter 7

~Chapter 7~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story.**

"What happened, Meg? Did you get scared in the middle of the night?" Bellatrix Black was standing in front of the fire place in the Slytherin common room. Meg had not woken up early enough, and unfortunately that meant she was caught. Standing at the base of the stairs from the boys dormitory, Meg tried her best to find a way past Bella. The fire place happened to be between Meg and the exit. Not that it mattered, she was caught by someone who didn't care what happened to her. She didn't know what to expect, if Bella would keep quiet, or if she should be expecting an expulsion soon. "Did you loose your teddy bear?" Bella started to double over, laughing maniacally.

"Come on, Bella, leave her be." Bella's laugh cut off as she shot a glare behind Meg. Behind her on the staircase stood Severus, fully dressed despite the early hour. Severus looked to the ground as he shied away from Bella's glare.

"Fine," Bella pushed off from the wall she was leaning against, "I was getting bored anyway." The Slytherin made her way over to the stairs leading to the girls dormitory, making no effort to avoid walking into Meg as she went past. "Shove off, half-breed." Meg briskly walked over to the fire place where Bella had been standing. She turned to face Severus who was still at the staircase. He slowly walked toward Meg, giving another of his fake smiles.

"You don't have to worry about her, she's had her fun." He glanced towards the girls dorms and back at Meg, "At least for now, that is."

"Yeah, well, I better get off to charms. Don't want to be late." Just before she left she turned back to Severus, "Thanks, Sevey." With a smile she turned around and headed up to the third floor.

As she stepped into the classroom not everyone had yet taken their seats. Everyone was up and about, talking and making a fuss. Professor Flitwick was at the front, standing on a stack of books, trying to get the students attention. Meg went to an empty desk at the back of the classroom by a window. A paper plane went by her face and did a loop-de-loop before crashing into the wall.

"_Silencio_!" The room went quiet as all eyes turned to the front as the students realized they couldn't talk. "That's better, if you would take your seats," Professor Flitwick lowered himself from his stack of books to address the class as they sat down. "We have half the class to learn about the, uh,"

The charms professor's voice faded into the recesses of her mind as she turned to look out the window. It looked like Black and Potter had first period off this morning. There she could see them, strolling across the court yard with Lupin and the rodent like boy. She never had bothered to learn his name. Something was off though, they seemed bored. No doubt by now one of them had usually found a first year to poke fun at, but not today. She was about to loose interest until Potter started to quicken his pace. Sure enough, in the direction he was headed, she saw Severus. His nose in a book as usually he didn't see Potter and he almost ran into him.

"Ms. LeTore, is there something out the window more interesting than today's lesson?" Professor Flitwick's voice didn't quite catch her attention as she saw what was going on downstairs. Potter had his wand out, Severus rising into the air being hung by his ankles.

"Sorry, Professor, I have to go." She gathered her books as fast as she could and darted out of the class room. She almost had to take the long way as to avoi the caretaker. However she managed to slip past him, and continued on her way. As she entered the courtyard she could hear the laughing of the students who had gathered around outside.

"Leave him alone," Evan's voice could be heard over the crowd. "What's he done to you?"

"Well, it's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean." Not only did Potter laugh at his own remark but so did every one else. Meg was still a bit a ways but could see what was going on. Potter and Black were laughing as Severus hung from his ankles, his robes falling over his head.

"Let him down." Evans took out her wand and pointed it at Potter.

Meg broke into a run trying to get to the scene as fast as possible. Even though it sounded like Evans might have things under control, Meg wanted to make sure. Slowing down to walk up behind the crowd Meg watched as Severus dropped back to the ground.

"There, you're lucky Evans was here, _Snivellus_." Potter had a sneer on his face. Severus stood up and threw his robes back off from over his head.

"I don't need any help from a filthy mudblood." Severus was dusting off his robes. Evans looked at him, surprised that he would ever say such a thing about her.

"Fine," Evans turned to walk away, "I won't bother in the future, and I'd wash my pants if I were you, _Snivellus_." Meg was coming up behind Black as Evans walked past her, obviously angered. No sooner had she left, than Severus was back in the air. Potter was taking this farther than usual.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing, Potter?" Startled by Meg's voice, Potter lost control of his charm and once again, Severus dropped to the ground. The mop-headed Gryffindor turned around to face Meg as she clenched her wand in one hand, her other hand making a fist.

"Just having a bit of fun, LeTore, care to join us?" Potter and his friends began their laughing again. Meg felt the hand balled into a fist raise, and forced it towards Potter's face. But the raising of her fist wasn't the only thing she felt. The trees and grass started spinning about her, the students gathered around began to rush past her as well. Meg was spinning out of control, with nothing she could do. Her surroundings began to change as they speed past, the leaves began to change from green to yellow and back to green again, people came and went about her until she stopped spinning. As soon as every thing stopped the force of her punch followed through, her fist coming in contact with something quite hard.


	8. Chapter 8

~Chapter 8~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story.**

The force of Nutmeg's punch had been greater than she had realized. She didn't really know what was worse, the pain in her head, or the pain in her hand. Dizzily she looked about, the grounds were empty, all but the few people just before her. The sky was unusually dark, not a part of it wasn't covered by black clouds. Her vision went haywire as she looked down at the boy who had been thrown to the ground just moments before.

"Wh-what was that for?" He stood up looking down at the blood on his hand. His blonde hair was hanging in his dark eyes. "I think it's broken." As the boy straightened himself out and dusted off his robes he looked up in surprise. And as he stood, Meg found herself staring at short boy who was a bit on the plump side, but she couldn't quite claim he was overly large.

"You're not James." Her head was still swimming, her stomach about to give way to the churning.

"Yeah, I know I'm not. Who are you?" As he spoke a girl, no older than Meg or the boy, came to his side. She drew her wand from behind her left ear and aimed it at the blood flowing from the boy's nose.

"M-meg LeTore." Her voice was faint as it took most of her energy just to stand there, much less speak.

"Do you want me to fix that, Neville?" The girl had a dreamy look about her eyes, her hair scraggly and dirty blonde.

Meg could no longer see anything, her vision went completely black as she collapsed. She could hear the rush of feet about her as she hit the ground, and heard the panicky voices of Neville and the girl. "We have to get her inside." Before she completely lost consciousness she could feel herself being lifted from the ground. And then she felt nothing.

When Nutmeg awoke she found herself once again in the Hospital Wing. The familiar nurse, Madam Pomfrey, could be seen busying herself through the door of her office. She did not sit up but looked around the room, and was glad it looked almost the same as the last time she was there. Perhaps, just perhaps, she had not traveled too far. The boy, Neville, and his friend were sitting across the way talking.

"Do you remember if she said her name before she fainted?" Neville had his wand out, and was eating something as he spoke to the girl.

"Oh, you're up." She looked rather pretty as she looked over to Meg, her bottle cap necklace jingling as she turned her head."You've been out for weeks."

"Weeks?" She still couldn't sit up, almost any amount of energy in her body was gone. Meg's head was in considerable pain, it was all she could do to keep herself from screaming. Madam Pomfrey came out of her office caring a bottle of tonic and shuffled over to the bed where Meg was lying. Before saying a word she poured the tonic into a goblet and set it beside the bed.

"Drink that if you think you can keep it down." Meg looked over at the goblet. Keeping it down was out of the question, she didn't know if she could even pick it up. Laying her head back down at the pillow she looked back up at the friendly nurse. But she didn't look the same as she did. The nurse's eyes had sunk and looked about the same as the sky. The atmosphere itself had changed as well, it was far too dark, something was wrong.

"I looked you up after we brought you here." The blonde girl walked over to her and sat down in a chair by the bed. She was closely and nervously followed by Neville. "You said your name was Meg LeTore, right?"

"I, I suppose so. Nutmeg." Meg didn't recall ever saying her name to be honest. But she must have if this girl knew it. "Since you know me, may I ask who you are?"

"Luna Lovegood," After introducing herself she made a gesture towards Neville, "This is Neville Longbottom. If you're really Nutmeg LeTore, how come you haven't aged?" Luna looked at her, nothing accusing in her eyes, just a pure curiosity. Luna edged towards Meg and looked at her more closely.

"Aged? What do you mean aged?" Meg said, backing away as much as she could. She was hoping she hadn't gone too far, but if she was supposed to have aged then she obviously had.

"Yeah." Neville put down the box that had once contained a chocolate frog. "According to the records you haven't been seen in over 22 years." That was far longer than she'd been hoping. A year or two tops would have been fine with her, but 22 years, she couldn't imagine how things had changed.

"You should really take that tonic, dear." Madam Pomfrey sighed interrupting Neville. She turned around and headed for her office after Meg rolled over to pick up the goblet. "Best be calling the Headmaster, he'll be wanting to know you're awake."

"Dumbledore?" After 22 years she couldn't imagine that the old man would have still been Headmaster. But she could hope that someone in this castle, in this day and age, was still around that knew what she was capable of. Someone that could help, maybe, someone who had learned more of her ability in her absence. Nutmeg looked to the faces of Luna and Neville who hadn't responded, even Madam Pomfrey's face became more sullen.

"No, not anymore." Madam Pomfrey turned to leave, as Luna sat back down. Neville moving closer to help her with the goblet.

"You never explained." Luna's distracted gray eyes looked back over to Meg after a long silence.

"Explained what?" Meg went over the last few minutes in her head. "Oh, you mean my age. It's rather complicated really." Meg felt her strength returning as she drank the tonic from the goblet. Neville's hand wasn't quite as steady as she'd hoped but he was a big help. She took the tonic from him and downed the rest of it before she heard the doors of the Hospital Wing crash open. Using the strength the tonic was giving her, and Neville's help, Meg sat up to see who had entered.

There walking towards her was a tall man dressed in black robes over a jacket of the same color. His eyes were dark as was his hair, greasy to the roots. The lines in his face were deep though she could tell that he wasn't old. The man's nose had a familiar hook to it, but she couldn't quite place him, though she knew she'd seen him before. As he approached her bed he stared at her, disbelief rising in his cold eyes.

"That was rather fast, Professor." Madam Pomfery's tone was as cold as the man's eyes. He must be the Headmaster, the one who replaced Dumbledore. But by the glares on Neville and Luna's faces, Meg could tell he wasn't much liked at all. The man looked up sharply at the nurse and gave a sarcastic smile.

"You wished to discuss something with me?" His voice was low and calm.

"Yes," Madam Pomfery turned and headed towards her office. The mans cold gaze once more fell to Meg's face with disbelief. If she could only place why his face was so familiar, "Professor Snape?" Once again the man looked up, and without another backward glance he followed the nurse to her office.


	9. Chapter 9

~Chapter 9~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story.**

"Are you sure that is what she said?" Professor Snape almost didn't bother to lower his voice. He could see the students in the next room out of the corner of his eye. They were edging closer to the nurse's office to hear what was going on. He couldn't have them over hearing, he stood up before Madam Pomfrey answered him and walked to the door of her office. Pausing as he clasped the edge of the wooden door, he gave a glare as he shut it in the student's faces. He turned back around to face the nurse as he waited for her reply.

"I did not hear first hand, Headmaster," Madam Pomfrey almost looked nervous, but the cold hatred in her eyes didn't allow it to take over. "But that is what was reported to me."

"Well, then," Professor Snape stood up straight as he deeply inhaled and turned to the door, "Send her to my office as soon as she can walk." He opened the door to see Longbottom falling forward at his feet. A small twist of distaste spread across his thin lips as he stepped past the Gryffindor. He did not glance back this time to see where the girl was laying. He glided straight out the Hospital Wing doors and down the path to his office, his robes flowing behind him. On his way, the Headmaster stopped at the transfiguration class room.

"Professor Snape, what is it?" Professor McGonogall was short and cool with him as he stepped into her classroom. She stood in front of her class, wand out, waiting for the man to reply. He stood there for a second surveying the class before pushing his robes behind him and looking up at Professor McGonogall.

"I'd like to see you in my office." He gave the class another quick glance before turning around to continue his way. "Now."

Professor McGonogall pursed her lips as she put up her wand inside her robes. Before following Professor Snape she addressed her class and announced that they were released early, "Go to your common rooms until your next class, we don't want you wondering about the grounds without an escort." After watching each of her students leave she gathered herself and headed up to the seventh floor.

"Professor Snape, what is the meaning of this?" Professor McGonogall sped her pace to match that of the Headmaster's. Despite her question, Professor Snape remained quiet as they climbed the Grand Staircase. A very nervous first year dodged out of the way as the teachers approached the gargoyle entrance to the Headmaster's office. Professor Snape watched the student scurry out of the hallway before muttering the password that would let the gargoyle allow them to pass.

"Snape, what is going on?" This was not only a question, but a demand. They passed through the wooden door at the top of the staircase behind the gargoyle. Not until they were safely inside, and the door shut did the Headmaster speak.

"There is a student in the Hospital Wing. An ex-student, I'm sure you'll remember her." Professor Snape crossed over to the desk and sat down. "I have called her to my office. When she arrives I want you to take her into your house." He took out parchment and ink as he finished talking, not waiting for a reply.

"An ex-student, Professor?" Professor McGonogall walked forward and stood directly in front of the desk at which Professor Snape was writing. "Who is this student? Why is she here, at Hogwarts?" Her cold tone was not covered in concern, though it was present.

"I'm sure you will recognize her. I'm not sure why she is here, but while she is she will stay as a student in Gryffindor." The Headmaster looked up from his parchment and quill to look at his colleague. "Do you understand, Professor McGonogall?" His face remained expressionless as he waited for Professor McGonogall's answer.

"Of course." Her tone growing colder and shorter. Professor Snape was keeping something hidden about this student, and she didn't like it. "If I am to have her in my house, It would be greatly appreciated if I knew the situation." She took a step closer to the desk between her and the Headmaster, a familiar purse forming in her lips, her hands folding in front of her. There was a moment of tense silence as Professor Snape looked across the desk at the old woman across from him. Before another word was said there was a knock at the door that caught both professor's off guard. Professor Snape raised from his seat, pausing before taking his eyes from the woman in front of him to cross the room to the door.

"Ms. LeTore, come in." His voice wasn't warm, but cold and demanding. As he looked past her he noticed Longbottom had come with the girl, no doubt to ensure she got there safely. Professor Snape was quite surprised she had already made her way up. She stepped passed him to enter the office and he addressed the boy as he began to follow "Longbottom, go back to your common room." The boy backed up and started down the stairs as Professor Snape closed the door behind him.

"Professor McGonogall!" Meg smiled as she recognized her old teacher. Professor Snape watched her walk over to the woman, relief rising in her features. Raising his eyes to his colleague he saw the look of surprise in the old woman's eyes. His gaze fell back down to Meg's face and rested there for a moment as he watched her incoherently babble. Tearing his eyes from the scene, he crossed back over to the desk.

"You will go with Professor McGonogall," He sat down not looking up at Professor McGonogall or the girl. "You'll stay at Gryffindor tower until we figure what to do with you." He picked up his quill and continued to jot notes down on the parchment laying on his desk.

"Professor Snape?" McGonogall stepped forward towards his desk. "What shall she do about classes?"

"Look up her old schedule. You can do that, can't you, Professor?" He lifted his head as he gave a sarcastic smile, he put down his quill and looked past the Professor in front of him, at the door. "Now, go."

Professor McGonogall quickly turned to guide Meg out of the Headmasters office, her eyes narrowed and lips pursed. However, Meg did not turn to walk with her, instead she pushed past her Professor's guiding hand. Professor Snape watched the girl come slightly forward as her raven curls fell into her eyes.

"Pro-" Meg pushed back her hair, briefly pausing before she continued to speak, "Professor _Snape_?"


	10. Chapter 10

~Chapter 10~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story.**

"What is it, Ms. LeTore?" The Headmaster looked almost annoyed. He already had his quill in his hand once more and hadn't looked up to respond. He looked tired, not much different from everyone else she had seen. The lines in his face were deep, but the familiarity was still there as he slowly stood up. Instead of coming towards Meg as she expected him to, he turned to go behind his desk to a bookshelf on a second level of his office.

"Nothing, it's just..." Meg let her voice trail off, not sure what to say.

"Perhaps, your time would be better spent listening instead of running your mouth without reason?" His voice was low but sharp as he spoke to her. He didn't look at either her or the transfiguration professor behind her, but began rifling through the books on the shelf. "Which reminds me," His hand paused at a rather thick book before pulling it down and opening it. After taking a look at the opened page he looked up at Meg, closing the book as he did so, "Did I not just say for you to leave?" Taking the book back to his desk, Professor Snape did not wait for a response, but began to scan through the contents of its chapters.

"Yes, but," Meg felt Professor McGonogall's hand at her shoulder for the second time. Nutmeg's voice once again trailed off. _Maybe I'm wrong, could this man really be my friend?_ Letting her feet shuffle she allowed the transfiguration professor to guide her towards the door.

"I will take you to the Gryffindor dormitories, you can stay there while I look up your old schedule." Professor McGonogal was walking down the corridor quite quickly, mumbling under her breath. Meg using a faster pace than usual, kept close behind the professor. It wasn't long before they had come the Great Staircase.

"I can remember it. After all, It hasn't been more that a week or two to me, Professor." Meg was taking the stairs two at a time to keep up with the old woman. She was amazed at how much strength she still lacked. But her mind was somewhere else, not on the moving staircase that she walked, not even at Hogwarts. In her mind she was on a familiar cobblestone street, back in London. The house before her, she all too well, with it's unkempt gardens and broken windows. Almost every memory she had of her dear friend involved that wretched house. Even with that awful home, he had never been as the headmaster had just now. Severus was never cold, though he may have been distant at times.

"Ms. LeTore? Did you hear me?" They had stopped at the seventh floor in front of a painting of a rather large woman.

"Sorry, no." Meg paused and waited for the professor to explain what she had missed. Though the old woman did not continue to talk, but looked up behind Meg.

"Mr. Longbottom, if you would," Meg turned to see the slightly familiar face of the boy she had accidentally slugged. "Ms. LeTore will be staying in Gryffindor tower for a while. Please, show her around." The professor gave both students a smile and promptly headed down the moving staircase.

"I thought they might put you in Hufflepuff, given your wearing their robes an' all." Neville gave what might be considered a half smile.

"I guess this was easier. Keep an eye on the situation and all, I guess." She smiled back as an awkward silence followed.

"Oh, right." Neville awkwardly scurried and turned around to face the portrait of the woman on the wall. "Impish Augurey."

The woman gestured with her arm for the two students to move forward as the frame slid aside. Following Neville into the narrow passage way, Meg soon entered the Gryffindor common room. It was warm and soft, a fire burning in the fireplace. The lighting seemed a little on the dark side, but she was sure it was due to the dark reds and lush gold's all about the room.

"Well this is the common room, girls dorms are upstairs to the right." He pointed towards the right corner of the far side of the room. A narrow spiral staircase could be seen through the passage in the wall.

"Thanks Neville. I think I'll go check it out if you don't mind." Meg gave him a grateful smile and headed straight for the stairs. Making the last turn she multiple four post beds arranged in a circle about the room. It was just like the Hufflepuff and Slytherin dorms, except the color scheme of course. She crossed the room to the bed closest to a window. On the bed was a pair of Gryffindor robes, along side them was a note addressed to her. It was easy to forget how efficient Hogwarts could be.

_Ms. LeTore,_

_During your stay you'll need to wear these, I assume they should fit. Mr. Filch has found your old trunk in an old storage room for lost things, it should arrive in the dorm shortly._

_Professor McGonogall._

Meg threw down the note on the beside table. Picking up the new robes she changed over and confirmed Professor Mcgonogall's assumption, they were a perfect fit. Nutmeg sighed as she folded up her old robes, not knowing what else to do with them she placed them under the foot of the bed. It was late enough that she wouldn't mind going to sleep for the night, but she had to wait for her old trunk, although there was no telling what time had done to its contents. Her mind began to wander again as she hopped up on the bed.

_How could I have thought that old man could be Severus, even if he was my friend, how could he have changed so much? _Her mind conjured an image of her old friend, his shaggy black hair falling in his dark eyes, that rare smile spread across his face. She smiled to herself as he lingered in her mind, but a troubled look in her eyes replaced it as the man she had just met took his place. Their faces were so similar, yet, so different.

Meg was pulled from her thoughts as a loud popping sound filled the room for a second. A trunk appeared at the foot of her bed, along with another note. Her initials marked on the top, she knew it was her's, hopping down she went through the contents pulling out some old pajama's. Surprisingly, time had not worn her clothes much at all, granted time showed, but not as much as she expected. She threw the note aside without reading it, changed into her night clothes and curled up in the bed.

She must have lay there for a few more hours, thinking not only about Severus, but how she would get back. Finally giving a yawn she closed her eyes, _I'll figure it all out tomorrow, _and with that thought she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning she woke with a start. Her dreams had been intense, she had slept well enough, but her mind was racing all night. Everyone else in the dorm was still asleep as she got out of bed. She was still half asleep as she started to get dressed, as she was almost ready for the day she realized something was off. She was wearing yellow robes. Quickly, she changed into her new red ones, and hurried out of the dorm as the other students started to wake up.

"Good morning, Meg!" Neville was already in the common room as she came downstairs.

"Morning, Neville." Meg greeted him and checked the time. There was a little time to spare until first period, but she wasn't wanting to stay in one place. She waved goodbye to Neville as she exited the common room. She was feeling anxious, peaceful, and somewhat lost all at the same time. She just couldn't stay focused on anything really. Aimlessly wondering about the castle she happened across the old gargoyle that guarded the headmaster's office.

_I could get one thing off my mind right now..._

As she approached the old gnarled statue she wracked her brain for the password she had been given the other day. She hadn't thought much about it after she had been let through, and had almost forgotten it already. A few minutes of thought and it was on the tip of her tongue.

"Pepper Imps." The gargoyle slid aside to reveal the spiral staircase behind it. Meg nervously inched forward, and at the last minute almost backed away and headed for potions. Gathering her courage she stepped onto the staircase and waited as it rose to the wooden door above. Taking a deep breath she knocked on the door and waited for a reply or answer.

"Enter," Professor Snape's voice came through the door after a few moments. Meg turned the knob and entered the door way. Closing the door behind her she leaned against it nervously as she looked across the room at the man before her. His eye's questioning why she was there, but not lingering on her. He continued his work waiting for her explanation. After watching him for a moment, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Severus?" The word was spoken no louder than a whisper, but the headmaster had heard her as if she were standing next to him. A solemn smile tugged at the corner of his mouth before he looked up. When he met her gaze, the smile was gone, but the flood of memories was not.


	11. Chapter 11

~Chapter 11~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story.**

"Just having a bit of fun, LeTore. Care to join us?" Severus was 15 again, and once more hanging from his ankles, trying to keep his robes from falling over his face. The blood was starting to rush to his head giving him an awfully bad headache. He saw Meg advance towards the boy jinxing him, raising her fist. Potter lost his concentration in fear of being hit and Severus found himself once again falling to the ground. His robes in a tangled mess about his head and feet, Severus struggled to get back on his feet.

"Bloody hell..." Potter was standing in amazement, as well as the rest of the students when Severus regained his composure. Severus drew his wand before he looked up to see what was going on. When he did look up he realized what was off. Just a moment before Nutmeg was not two feet in front of Potter, and now she was gone.

"Where did she go?" Black took caution as he walked up to the place where Meg had disappeared. It took a lot for Severus to keep from laughing at Black. Seeing Black foolishly spin in circles attempting to look around for the girl struck him as somewhat humerous. Severus knew full well where she had gone, he enjoyed watching the bewilderment of the other students. Black and Potter weren't there the last time and had no idea what was going on. Dusting himself off again, he watched and waited for Meg to reappear as she had before. A few minutes passed as the whispers grew louder and more confused.

"What is going on here?" Professor McGonogall was pushing her way through the crowd.

"That's what we were wondering, Professor." A student next to the teacher spoke up. No one was looking at the professor as she came forward to the scene they were gathered around. Severus began to feel nervous, Meg hadn't reappeared yet and it had been a good while longer than usual already.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Professor McGonogall looked from the student who spoke to Potter, and then to Black and Severus. She gave a sigh as she assumed what must have happened. "Can't you try to not make trouble?"

"It's not that professor, or not all of it at least," Black came forward, "We're not really sure what happened, she just dissapeared."

"Who dissapeared?" The Professor looked at Black waiting for an answer, but it wasn't from the boy in front of him that she got one.

"Meg, Professor." Severus was still looking at the ground where his best friend had been. "She hasn't come back yet." Professor McGonogall looked at the boy, confused at first. Her eyes widened and relaxed as she realized what he was talking about. She opened her mouth as if to say something but shut it again as she looked around at the three boys. Then she looked at the students surrounding them.

"Get to class, everyone." Her gaze returned to the three boys as they gathered their things to leave. "Except you, you come with me." Professor McGonogall swiftly turned around and headed back to the castle, towards the courtyard. The two Gryffindor's exchanged a nervous look before they began to walk after her. Severus put away his wand as the crowd thinned out and gave another glance back hoping to see Meg appear. When she didn't he turned to face the castle falling in behind Black and Potter.

"I suppose all we can do is wait, Professor." Severus waited outside Professor McGonogall's office. His face in his hands, he'd been there for hours. Professor Dumbledore had been called again, in hope there was something he could do. Black and Potter had been dismissed earlier, ignorant to the severity of the situation they left without a word. "If she is indeed lost in time, then only time can bring her back to us."

_Lost in time? Surely he just meant traveling, but what if... what if she was lost._ Severus raised his head at the thought. And then another thought dawned on him, _Maybe time isn't the only solution. If I could find a way- no, Dumbledore said it himself..._ Before he knew it, he was on his feet and heading down to the Slytherin common room.

The next morning, even though he had hardly slept, Severus woke up early. He threw on his robes as fast he could, not really caring about being neat or tidy, not that he usually did either. Rushing out of the dorms and through the common room, he nearly tripped himself by the fire place. However, soon enough he found himself running up the grand stair case two steps at a time. He got to the third floor and turned left towards Professor McGonogall's office, it wasn't early enough that the teachers would still be a sleep.

"Professor?" The doorway was already open as Severus looked inside the office, but didn't enter, Professor McGonogall wasn't there. Severus made his way down to the transfiguration classroom just down the hall. It was possible that she was already preparing for first period. He stepped inside to see Professor McGonogall at the chalk board writing out notes on the _Fera verto_ charm. "Professor McGonogall?"

"Yes?" The professor turned around from the chalk board to face him. "Oh," Her facial expression faded from surprise to sympathy as she must have known why he was there, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid she hasn't shown up yet."

"Thank you, Professor." Severus gave a solemn half smile to be polite as he turned away from the teacher. Exiting the classroom he slowly made his way to the dungeons for first period potions. Not paying much attention to anything he ran directly into Lilly Evans, sending them both to the floor.

"Excuse me, I'm so sor-" Lilly stood to her feet and looked down to see who she had run into. "Oh, its you."

"Lilly, I-" Severus looked at the girl, her eyebrows raised, her features expecting. There wasn't much he could say to her after what he had said the day before. He looked away shyly biting the inside of his cheek. "Sorry." He was rather surprised as she held out her hand to help him up. Students were starting to make their way to class, passing by Severus and Lilly trying no to be late.

"What, won't accept the help of a mudblood even to get off the floor?" Her mouth was turned down, with pain and disappointment at the words he had spoken yesterday. He took her hand and pulled himself up, he felt horrible for calling her a mudblood, but in the light of things he wasn't exactly thinking straight either. "I heard about Meg." She paused a moment, walking beside him as he continued to make his way down to the dungeons. Severus glanced at her for a second waiting for what she had to say. "I figured what must have happened, like that day in transfiguration. Do you think she'll show up soon?"

"I don't know, Lilly. I hope so." His eyebrows pulled together and his eye's closed as the worry returned stronger than it had been before. They paused just before they got to the door of the Potions classroom. More and more student's were racing through the halls, it was getting crowded and class was about to start.

"If there's anything I can do," Lilly paused, of course there wasn't something she could do. Nutmeg was somewere in the fabric of time, she didn't know anything that could be done about that. As for Severus, she wasn't exactly sure what kind of state he was in about all this, she wasn't getting a response, he was merely looking at the ground. "Well, I have to get to class." Lilly waved good bye as she turned to head up stairs to Charms. Severus stopped her for a moment before she got too far away.

"I'm sorry." Severus stepped back a bit not really waiting for a response, but he didn't leave either.

"Yeah, well, me too." She could only assume the apology was for the awful things he had said yesterday.

"I think, I think maybe there is something you could help me with, if you don't mind." His mouth was curved in a small hopefull smile as he looked into her eyes.

"Sure, Sev. What is it?" She sighed, feeling sympathy not only for Severus, but for Meg as well.

"Meet me in the Library after classes, I'll explain then." Severus smiled, not a real smile, but a smile none the less. Then he turned away and they went their seprate ways to class.


	12. Chapter 12

~Chapter 12~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story.**

"You've been at this for weeks, Severus." Lilly walked up to the table where the boy sat, his nose deeply buried in some book. It had been a while back since Lilly agreed to help him research time travel, Nutmeg still hadn't returned and Severus was far from giving up. The more time passed, the more time he spent in the library. Lilly had given up already, she just came by to check on him every now and then. "We have looked everywhere, I think something would have surfaced by now if it were here. Come on, we'll go get something to eat and go outside for a bit. It's not healthy, you spending all your free time in here."

Severus couldn't deny they had searched the entire contents of every book to do with time travel. Lately if he wasn't in class or sleeping he was at this table, reading every book he thought might be of use to him. "Yeah, one second." He closed the book he was reading and grabbed another one without looking up. He wasn't much paying attention to his friend, no matter how much sense she was making. Taking his quill, fresh with ink, he started to scribble some notes in the margins of the book. No sooner had he put his quill to the pages, did the book began to hit him over the head. Lilly grabbed the book put it down on the table, not lifting her hand on book she rolled her eyes. Severus had forgotten the charms the strict Librarian, Madam Pince, placed on all the books.

"Sev, come on!" She grabbed his hand and almost had to drag him out of the library.

"But Lilly," Severus stumbled as he reached for his notes. He missed them by inches as the book, now with no restraint from Lilly's hand, snapped closed at his arm.

"Leave it." Lilly's voice was stern and almost annoyed. Severus stopped fighting and followed her to the kitchens, she was right, he needed a break. It was a few hours before dinner was to be served, so Lilly and Severus went down to the kitchens to talk to the house elves. Lilly knock at the entrance to the kitchens and stepped back.

"Surely, there has to be something to help?" Severus looked away as they waited for a house elf to answer them. His attention was drawn away as he watched the Fat Friar float along the corridor towards the Hufflepuff common room. He would have lost himself again and headed back to the library if it weren't for Lilly's presence.

"You've tried your best, Sev. There isn't anything you can do about a magic no one knows much about, is there?" As she spoke the entrance opened and a small goblin-like creature stepped outside. Lilly turned around to face the house elf and smiled, bending down to the elf's level. "Hi,"

"Dinner is not for another few hours." Her high voice was stressed, it was obvious she was aggravated at having to answer the door to students. The house elf started to close the door when Lilly caught it.

"We know, its just we missed both breakfast and lunch today, studying and all. We were wondering if you might get us a snack to hold us over?" Lilly's green eyes sparkled as she smiled at the elf. It gave a grunt and held up its hand as if to say wait here. It turned around and went into the kitchen leaving the door partially opened.

"Well, if it isn't Severus and his little Gryffindor pet." Bellatrix Black came tromping down the stairs and up to the kitchen doors. "Thought you were in the Library, Snape." Her wild eyes laughed as she smirked at him and then looked to Lilly.

"Yeah, well I was. Besides, what's it to you where I am, Bella?" Just then the house elf from before came back from the kitchen, a tray of fruit floating in front of her. She let it drop in front of Severus, not necessarily in the best of moods. Severus looked down at the food in front of him as his stomach rumbled.

"Thank you." Lilly sputtered to the elf as she walked past her. All she got in reply from the elf was a grunt.

"There will be no more snacks today." The house elf spoke not to Severus and Lilly but to Bellatrix. "You've had more than your fill." She turned around and closed the doors as she went back to the kitchen.

Bella grimaced and stuck her tongue out at the elf once she had her back turned. The Slytherin laughed aloud as the doors closed behind the creature and turned back to Severus. "Have you found your precious Nutmeg yet?" She gave another out burst of maniacal laughing before she continued. "I would have figured you'd have looked in the restricted section by now."

_Of course. _Severus looked over to Lilly, a look of annoyance and disgust on her face at the thought of even being around Bellatrix. She turned toward him as he gave an apologetic shrug. Severus leaped over the food in front of him and broke into a run towards the stairs.

"Severus?!" Lilly yelled after him as he took the first few steps all at once. He stopped and quickly turned around for only but a second.

"Sorry, Lilly. I have to go." As he turned around he shouted out again, "Thanks Bella."

"Then again," Bella's voice stopped him again as he turned back around, "if you don't find anything there, you could always try the _dark_ arts." A sneaky grin spread across her face that soon turned into another of her maniacal laughs. Severus didn't respond, he couldn't loose another minute getting back to the library. Severus arrived back to his table in the Library in almost no time. Shuffling through the books he had left out he pulled out a notebook and quill. Quickly he jotted down notes of what he thought was important and then went to find the librarian.

"What is it?" Madam Pince snapped at him, she was, as usual, in an awful mood.

"I was just wondering if I might get into the restricted section for a bit-" Severus was cautious asking this to the grumpy old woman but didn't bother not being straight forward about it.

"Absolutely not, now get back to work. Better yet, get out of here." The thin, vulture like woman shooed him out of her way as she went to scowl another student for chewing gum. Severus grimaced as he went back to the table to check if he had missed anything before. A few hopeless hours later he closed his books that lay scattered across the table before him. Rubbing his eyes he stood up and stretched. Gathering his things he left the library and made his way down to the Slytherin common room. He had read straight through dinner, but he wasn't hungry, really, he just wanted to sleep.

"Chizpurfle." The entry way opened for him as he stepped through to the narrow, dank passage to the common room. As he entered the common room it wasn't empty as usual, Avery and Wilkes were standing by the unlit fireplace, Bellatrix was laying across the couch.

"Did you get what you want, Severus?" Bella had a mocking tone as she addressed him. Avery and Wilkes looked over to listen for his response.

"No." Was all he said, a simple enough answer for the likes of them. They were his friends, but somehow he didn't feel like they had any reason to know what was going on. Severus passed by Bella and the other two on his way to the stair case to boy's dormitory. He took off his shoes and crawled into bed, still wearing his robes, and pulled the cover's over his head. He let his mind wander for the next few hours as the rest of the castle went to sleep.

_I could always sneak into the restricted section. There's no other way since Madam Pince won't let me in._ Severus uncovered his head for just a moment and looked about the room, everyone was in their bed. He couldn't tell if they were all asleep, but given the time and Avery's snoring he doubted anyone could hear him leave. Pulling back the covers, Severus drew his wand as he climbed out of bed, picked up his shoes and tip-toed across the room to the stairs. Stopping just before he entered the common room, he slipped on his shoes as quietly as he could.

"How do you expect to get away with sneaking out, Snape?" Bellatrix, unfortunately, hadn't moved from the couch where she had been before. She sat up as he crossed the room, her hand running through her messy curls to brush back her hair. Severus rolled his eyes as he stopped behind the couch at which she sat. She got to her feet and crossed to the fire place, raising her right arm to rest on the mantle.

"I suppose an invisibility charm should do, Bella." Severus continued on his way to the exit beyond the fire place. Bellatrix's left hand pushed against his chest, stopping him again. A quiet laughter rising as she held him back.

"So, how do you plan to get by me?" Her quiet laughter grew as she spoke. "I've already seen you."


	13. Chapter 13

~Chapter 13~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story.**

"Ouch!" Bellatrix screeched, her voice coming from in front of Severus as he tripped over her. Fortunately, the invisibility charm had worked. However, Severus wasn't so lucky when it came to leaving Bella behind. His deranged cousin had insisted on coming with him, Merlin knows why. "Watch where you're going!" Bellatrix hissed angrily.

_How can I watch if I can't even see you?_ Severus paused for a moment before he stepped out of the common room, letting Bella get ahead of him. Repeatedly tripping over someone wasn't the most discrete way to get to the library in the middle of the night. Severus slipped into the corridor and started to follow the sound of Bella's footsteps through the dungeons. Halfway up the Grand Staircase Severus noticed that Bella's and his own footsteps weren't the only ones he was hearing. Coming from behind him in the third floor corridor, he heard the shuffling of more than one pair of feet. The boy backed up as far as he could against the railing nearest the wall, being as quiet as possible.

"Have they found the missing student yet?" Professor Slughorn's anxious voice came from the corridor below.

"No, Professor, I'm afraid there isn't much point in looking for her." Professor McGonogall came into view, closely followed by the Potions Master. "Though your student, Severus Snape, is quite devoted to his search for her." The teacher's turned onto the staircase, headed in Severus' direction. "I'm afraid his grades have begun to drop, in my class to say the least."

"Yes, the boy has begun to fall behind in Potion's as well. I don't expect too much from him to begin with, but he's far below his potential at the moment." Professor Slughorn almost ran into Severus as the teacher's passed him on the staircase. Severus backed against the wall even more flattening himself against the wall.

"Perhaps, you could talk to the boy? After all, Professor Slughorn, you are the head of Slytherin house." Professor McGonogall turned around abruptly to face the Potions Master.

"Yes, perhaps." Professor Slughorn looked up at the Transfiguration teacher for a moment before he turned around, "Yes, well, I must be off. Prepare tomorrow's lesson and all." The old man began his way back down the stairs, and past Severus once again.

"Good night Professor." Severus waited until both Professor McGonogall and Professor Slughorn had gone their separate ways; Professor Slughorn to the dungeons and Professor McGonogall farther up the stairs and into another corridor. Severus once again started to make his way up the stairs to the Library on the fourth floor. When he got there, Bella stood before the rope that was separating the restricted section from the rest of the library, completely visible. Her eyes were tired and bored as she waited. Her hair was frissy and falling in her face, it almost looked as if it hadn't been brushed in days. Leaning against the wall she gave a sigh, looking about the room.

"What in bloody hell do you think you're doing, Bellatrix?" Severus approached the rope, and Bella, still invisible. "If you're seen you can't get in."

"It wears off, you know." Bellatrix leaned against the wall looking at her nails. "What took you so long? Get side tracked, did you?"

"If you must know, I ran into Professor Slughorn and McGonogall. Couldn't let them catch me, now could I? I just laid low for a bit till they passed." Severus pulled out his wand as he stepped over the rope. Turning his wand towards Bella, Severus once again cast a disillusionment charm on the girl. "Come on, Bella. We need to hurry." Severus watched the rope swing from side to side as she stepped over, then turned around and continued into the restricted section.

Severus passed the high bookshelves on either side of him, dodging books here and there that were reorganizing themselves. The tables were dusty, like they had never been cleaned unless they were about to be used, and knowing Madam Pince, that wasn't often. All the chairs were neatly aligned, the occasional cobweb in the corner of their legs. Severus did his best to quiet the sound of his feet hitting the stone floors, while also trying to ignore the fact that Bella did no such thing. Her feet shuffled as loudly as if they were going to class. As he came to table in the back of the library, a warm trickling went down his back, the disillusionment charm had worn off. Severus Let himself wander through the bookshelves, looking for whatever might relate to time travel. A chair from the table he had just passed could be heard being pulled back across the floor. Bella's disregard for stealth seemed even worse given the emptiness of the library and the need for silence. Severus pulled a few books that caught his eye off the shelves and headed back to the table where Bella had sat down.

A few hours later, Severus sat, slouched over the open books in front of him. His eyes were dry and it felt like he needed to go to sleep hours ago. Rubbing his eyes struggling to stay awake he looked across the table at Bella, eyes closed, leaning back in her chair. He closed a book he hadn't been using, picked it up and walked over to the side of the table where Bella was sleeping. Severus held the book up behind her then dropped his arm letting the book hit his cousin in the back of the head.

"If you're not going to help, then leave." Severus took the book back over to the shelves and put it in its place. He heard Bella give a sigh as he turned around to see her rubbing the back of her head.

"I don't even know what you're looking for, Snape. How am I supposed to help?" Bella resituated herself and leaned back in the chair again, closing her eyes. "Besides, I don't know why you bother."

"Because, Bella, I want to find Meg." Severus reached for a book one shelf above his head and came back to the table. Sitting down he opened the book and began reading again. Bella open her eyes and sat up looking at all the books between her and Severus. She watched as he scrawled his notes, from various pages, anywhere from your average magic, to the dark and ancient spells. She picked up a spare quill and leaned back, trying to balance the quill on the bridge of her nose.

"This library is starting to get on my nerves." The quill fell from her nose as she spoke, catching it she looked back up at Severus. "You know, there might be a faster way." Bella's statement had caught Severus' attention; he looked up from the book in front of him. The deranged girl had a mischievous smile spread across her face as she looked back at him.

"And, what is that?" Severus slowly began to close the book in front of him, but kept his finger between the pages. Bella's smile weakened but was still present as she rolled her eyes.

"You already know, Snape." Bella rose from her seat, her dark eyes sparkling, and crossed to the other side of the table where Severus was sitting. As she moved she dragged her hand along the edge of the table and up his arm to rest at his shoulder. Leaning down she whispered in his ear, "You know just as well as I do, the power's that The Dark Lord possesses." She paused before she gave a small giggle, going to his other ear she spoke a little louder than before. "When he rises to full power, nothing can stop us from getting what we want!" She let her voice trail off as she pulled out her wand. Bella was once again invisible, her footsteps loudly leading out of the library, a soft echo of her laughter filling the room. "Even your little friend!" She exclaimed, the echo's of her laughter died out just to be replaced by more maniacal screeching.


	14. Chapter 14

~Chapter 14~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story.**

Severus Snape was pulled away from his memories and found himself once again at his desk, looking across the room to the girl who he had searched for so devotedly. He might have been guiltless if finding her had been the only reason he had joined The Dark Lord upon graduation from Hogwarts. In all honesty, at one point Severus had believed in the new world image The Dark Lord had wanted to create. Now he was stationed at Hogwarts, on both Dumbledore's and The Dark Lords orders, a triple agent, completely alone in his mission. Nutmeg was still leaning against the door, waiting for him to say something. Severus felt the faint smile try to return as he looked at her, as he realized he finally found her. His smile faded before it came though as he also realized it was the worst time for her to show up.

"I believe you should be making your way to Potions, Ms. LeTore." Severus raised his eyebrows as he spoke and went back to what he had been doing before she came in.

"What happened to you, Sevey?" Meg pushed herself off from the door and came forward, biting her lip as she walked. Severus took a deep breath and closed his eyes, as the sound of his old nickname filled his ears.

"Professor," Severus realized they weren't in school, she was his student now. It wasn't the right setting for nicknames anymore. He almost spoke with a sneer out of pure habit, calming his voice he continued. "Or Professor Snape." Meg's mouth fell slightly open in surprise at his words, and she stopped in her tracks. She didn't move for a long moment or two. Severus could see the shock in her eyes, soon accompanied by pain. Meg blinked a few times in a row and looked to the floor, trying to hide the tears forming in the corners of her eyes. The girl looked at him as if she had been betrayed, making it difficult for Severus to look back at her. Turning his attention instead to his work, he avoided the guilt that was sure to come if he looked at her any longer. "You're going to be late for class if you don't get a move on it soon."

"Yes, _professor_." Meg gave a short nod and then swiftly turned to face the door to leave, her movements only showing anger towards Severus for acting so distant. When Severus did look up, she was over half way across the room; Meg was opening the door when he spoke again.

"And, Ms. LeTore, come by my office this Saturday. Around noon, if you will." Meg looked back at Severus when he spoke. She curved one side of her mouth into a sarcastic smile in recognition and closed the door behind her.

"Amycus, what's the hold up?" A man, younger than Severus, but not by much, blocked her way as Meg stepped out of the Headmaster's office. His hair was dark and cropped short, so short that his head could almost be considered shaved. His nose was a bit long for his squat and lumpy features and his eyes a bit too small. The woman behind him, whose voice Meg had heard a moment ago, wasn't much to look at either. Her hair was long and pulled back into a tight bun, the same dark shade as the man's. Amycus, Meg assumed, stood aside to let her pass, watching her every move as she did. She sheepishly looked away from the pair as she tried to slink past them. The woman's hand however caught her by surprise and Meg found herself pinned to the wall of the narrow staircase.

"Who are you? Never seen you around before." The woman's grip was tight around Meg's neck. As the woman interrogated Nutmeg, Amycus continued his path up the stairs and knocked at the Headmaster's door. When Nutmeg didn't answer the hand around her neck tightened until she could hardly breathe, much less talk. Meg began to gag just before she heard a door open; Professor Snape stepped out of his office answering Amycus' knock at the door.

"Tell me, Alecto, is it your intention to kill her first and then ask questions? If it is then, I can assure you that method is quite... unsuccessful." Calm as he was, there was a hardly noticeable tone of anger in the Headmaster's voice as he looked on the scene.

"Of course not, Sir." Alecto's response was mocking and short. After a long pause her grip at Meg's throat loosened and her hand fell to her side. Meg gasped, and fell forward trying to catch her breath. Once she could breathe properly, Meg ran the rest of the way down the staircase. She slowed down and looked back at Alecto, who in return was watching her leave. Alecto's eyes narrowed as she turned towards the Headmaster and joined Amycus at the top of the staircase. Meg went to the bottom of the stairs, past the gargoyle and hid out of sight. She wasn't sure who these two were, but this meeting might be worth hearing.

"You're late, Amycus." Professor Snape watched Meg leave until she was out of sight, before addressing the two before him. "If you wish to meet with me in the future, I suggest you be on time." His words were short as he made room for them to pass into his office. Once Alecto had pushed her way past him, Severus slammed the door behind him. After hearing the door close, Meg slipped past the Gargoyle once again, just before it closed off the staircase behind it. Sneaking to the top of the stairs, she leaned in close to the door.

"My sister and I are getting impatient, Snape." Inside the office, Amycus crossed to the middle of the room, leaving Alecto and Severus at the door. He spun around to face the Headmaster, his face full of mistrust and uncertainty. "It's been months since The Dark Lord took power again and Potter still hasn't been found. We are stuck here at the castle dealing with mere students who tremble at the mention of his name, while everyone else is doing his biding."

"Are you not doing The Dark Lord's biding as well?" Severus walked up to the man, a superior air about him as he stopped at Amycus' side. Half way past the Death Eater he turned only his face towards the man as he spoke. "You know his order's for you, as well as myself. We're to be at Hogwarts to wait for Potter and keep the students and teachers here not in allegiance to him under control."

"We want to be out doing something productive, Snape!" Alecto hissed from behind him. Without looking at her he continued to the stairs leading to the upper level of his office. He turned around to face her, taking the first step on the stairs as he did.

"Christmas holidays are coming soon. If you do not fear the wrath of The Dark Lord, you are free to leave the grounds and do as you wish. I will not stop you." He paused and took a short breath as he turned his gaze to her brother. "However, until then I'm afraid you'll have to stay at your posts. Teaching at Hogwarts is now your job and you will continue until The Dark Lord says otherwise. Do you understand?"

"I'm sick of waiting around! Let's just go find Potter ourselves and kill him." Alecto hissed. Being appointed by The Dark Lord as the Muggle Studies Professor, Alecto had taken to teaching the students about pure-blood superiority. The reign over the wizarding and muggle worlds alike, along with the torturing of misbehaving students at Hogwarts, was proving to not be enough to satisfy Alecto's thirst for causing pain.

"As much satisfaction killing the boy would give me, it has come to my attention as it should have yours that The Dark Lord wishes to kill Potter himself." Severus turned around and continued up to the upper level of the office. He didn't miss a beat in his response to Alecto's suggestion. Not only was it true that The Dark Lord wished to kill Harry Potter himself, but Severus could not allow the boy to be killed, especially before his purpose was served. "Now, I believe you both have classes you should already be attending to." Severus didn't face either Death Eaters as they left the room without another word. When Nutmeg heard Severus dismiss the pair she ran down the stairs as fast as possible, only to be blocked by the gargoyle. The door slammed at the top of the staircase, distracting her as she tried her best to remember the password again.

"Oh, God." She tapped her foot on the ground as her mind fumbled about searching for the words that would insure her escape. Alecto and Amycus were getting closer, their footsteps growing louder as they approched the last turn in the spiral staircase. Then suddenly the two words she needed came to mind.

"Pepper Imp."

Darting out past the Gargoyle before it moved completely out of the way, she ran as fast as she could towards the dungeons, barely missing the apparent teachers behind her.


	15. Chapter 15

~Chapter 15~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story.**

"S-sorry," Nutmeg was out of breath by the time she reached the dungeons, and also incredibly late. Meg thought up a quick excuse as to why she was so late. "I…I got-got lost Professor. Professor Slughorn?" At the front of the room, turning around was the familiar face of her old Potions Master. His mustache still sitting upon his face, though it was gray instead of the ginger blond it used to be. Along with the color of his mustache, the hair on top his head was gone too. Though pale and old, Meg was glad to see he was still just as round as ever.

"Ah, you're here." Professor Slughorn squinted as he faced her, his back curved in a small hunch. "Who are you, girl?"

"Meg, Meg LeTore." Meg was still catching her breath as she spoke to the man. She thought it best not to say too much, considering she didn't know what the teacher's had been told about her appearance in their classrooms. Hoping her name would be enough to remind the old man, she gave herself a second to look about the room. The Potions room was still as dark as ever, illuminated by candles and the glow from the occasional filled potion vial. On the far right was a group of Ravenclaw students, busy writing notes and beginning their day's work. Closer to her on the right, there were Slytherins scattered about, most of them not doing anything but goofing off. Only a few of the students clad in green robes, granted maybe one, were doing any kind of work whatsoever.

"That's right; you are the new student from Beauxbatons Academy." He walked forward with his hand out in greeting, and Meg smiled at him as she shook his hand in return. "You may take a seat here." Professor Slughorn placed his had behind her shoulder and guided her to an empty seat in the front of the room, closer to the scattered Slytherins. "Draco, if you would catch her up in the lesson, eh, thank you." Meg didn't sit down quite yet, but placed her things just behind the stool at the table. "I'm afraid, Ms. LeTore, that your schedule has you in a bit more advanced class than you were in at Beauxbatons. Though Professor Snape says you are capable, let me know if you need any help."

At that Professor Slughorn paused and looked at her, then suddenly shook his head as if he were clearing his thoughts. After a second or two the old Potions Master turned to go back to his desk and started fumbling around for something. At the table where Professor Slughorn had lead her was sitting a pale boy with neatly combed silver-blonde hair, his features were sharp and pointed. He looked up at her with cold, dead eyes. Everything about him was vaguely familiar but Meg didn't pay much attention to it. He had what could be called a smile on his face, but to Meg, it looked closer to a grimace. She sat down as she smiled back at him, trying not to make eye contact; something about him made her feel nervous.

"So you're new here?" He spoke without looking at her, instead he pulled back his robe sleeve and his attention was drawn to the boiling contents of the cauldron in front of him. He was one of the few not in Ravenclaw that was paying attention to the lesson.

"You could say that." Meg nervously laughed at her own little joke, a little paranoid, even though she knew Draco couldn't understand her meaning. She looked away from him and to the ingredients on the table, amongst which she saw powdered moonstone and syrup of hellebore.

"Didn't know we got transfer's at Hogwarts. Actually, I'm pretty sure you're the first." Draco still wasn't looking at her but flipped the page of his text book and began to stir the concoction before him. Meg didn't know what to respond to his statement, so she didn't. Instead she looked out of the corner of her eyes to Draco's open potions book and saw the titled page in the corner. Skimming over the contents of the page, she nervously twisted her mouth to the side. _That looks difficult... I don't think I've ever covered that one before, _She thought. Taking another look at the roots and powders in front of her, she turned back to Draco.

"So, we're making the Drought of Peace?" She opened her book to the same page that the boy's had shown. "Bit advanced, isn't it?"

"Seems Professor Snape was right. You know your way around a potions cabinet, at least." Draco gave her a small glare, he looked annoyed and Meg had the feeling she didn't want to be on his bad side. Going over the directions in her textbook she began to mix the ingredients into her cauldron. She started to let her mind wander as she stirred the simmering potion before her.

Meg couldn't imagine what Severus could want with her that weekend. It didn't seem like he cared too much that she was even there. He was so formal, as if he had never known her before these past few weeks. She gave an inaudible gasp as she realized just how long it had been since she had shifted through time to get here. Meg was surprised at how many people were still at Hogwarts; Severus, Professor McGonogall, Madam Pomfrey. Over twenty years and more people than she expected were still around, the same place they had been when she left.

_I wonder who else is still around._ Meg couldn't help but think of where everyone else had ended up, Sirius Black, his cousin Bellatrix, even James Potter… Which reminded her of the conversation she had just overheard. She absentmindedly stopped stirring the silver liquid as her mind switched to the teachers that had met with Severus in his office. Placing her hands in her lap she let her thoughts completely consume all her attention. _It couldn't have been James they were talking about. Then again, after all the grief Potter gave Sevey in school I wouldn't be surprised if Severus held a grudge. But to go as far as to have pleasure in his death? And after all these years..._ That didn't sound like the boy she grew up with at all. _He could be cruel at times, maybe even vengeful, but a murderer?_

"Bloody-! What did you do?" Draco's tense words pulled Meg from her thoughts. After a moment, Meg saw what the boy was talking about; smoke was filling the Potion's room, thick as fog and light blue, all originating from her cauldron.

"Ms. LeTore!" Professor Slughorn along with several students around her were waving their hands to clear the smoke from in front of their faces. The plump old man pulled out his wand and muttered a familiar curse that Meg was so used to hearing come from his lips. The smoke cleared from the air, as if being pulled through a vortex at the tip of the Professor's wand. With a cough and a bit of a sputter, Professor Slughorn addressed the rest of the class. "Well, I suppose that is all for today. Well done most of you." Meg blushed a little when Slughorn glanced in her direction as he said the last part. She tried to avoid eye contact with anyone around her while she gathered her things, attempting to make her way out of the class room as soon as possible.

"Nutmeg!" A lighthearted, dreamy voice sounded behind her. Luna Lovegood came up beside Meg, a bounce in her step and a smile on her face. Meg hadn't noticed her in the classroom before that moment. "Neville and I have been looking for you, lucky you were in my first period."

"Oh, yeah, I saw Neville this morning but I couldn't stay to talk. What is it, Luna?" Instead of looking at Luna, her eye was caught by Draco as he left the classroom, the resemblance of his feature's finally striking her memory. "Malfoy..." The word escaped her lips as an inaudible whisper as Luna continued to speak, but Meg had already missed half of what she said. "I'm sorry, Luna, I got distracted, what was that?"

"It's okay," The smile didn't leave her face as she repeated herself. "I said Neville wanted me to invite you to a... party, if I saw you."

"Oh, that sound's great, I'd love to go." Meg picked up the last of her books and started heading out the door.

"Wonderful! What classes do have next?" Luna skipped along beside her, looking rather odd with her wand tucked behind her ear.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts." The dungeons were becoming littered with students making their way to and from class when Meg and Luna reached the grand staircase.

"Oh. You mean the Dark Arts." Luna frowned at the statement before continuing on. "I have charms, but I'll see you later!" Luna skipped up the stairs at a faster pace leaving Meg and the crowd of students behind her. Watching the girl climb a few steps before continuing her self, Meg made a start for the third floor.


	16. Chapter 16

~Chapter 16~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story. Beta: Artemis Fortuna. **

Nutmeg silently climbed the Grand Staircase, dodging hordes of students going both directions. Bumping into many of them as she passed, she finally reached the third floor. She turned into the class room just in time and took a look around. A group of Gryffindors sat spread out on the right side closer to the door, amongst which was Neville Longbottom. His blonde hair was messy and sticking up in every direction, his robes twisted about his shoulders and torso, his wand on the floor by his feet. He stood by his desk struggling to get untangled while Draco Malfoy, with his wand drawn, and two Slytherin boys almost doubled over in laughter on the other side of the room.

_Something about this seems familiar and twisted_, Meg thought, rolling her eyes. She walked through the rows of desks not exactly sure where to sit. She moved forward through the rows of desks till she came to Neville, still struggling inside his robes. Her bag slipped off her shoulder and on to the floor by the empty desk beside Neville's.

"You shouldn't let them do that, you know. It's not right." Meg said. With a sigh, she reached to the floor and handed Neville his wand.

"It's alright. It's not like he hasn't done worse." Neville scrunched his eyes, his arms flailing about trying to grab for an end of fabric, one fold around his shoulders preventing him from reaching for his wand. The cherry wood wand still resided in Meg's hand several minutes later. She patiently watched the boy turn about trying to untangle himself from his own clothing. Finally, rolling her eyes, Meg gave one swift tug on the edge of Neville's robes and they fell to his feet where they should be. Unfortunately, she caught Neville off balance and he fell to the ground as well.

"What do you mean worse?" Meg lifted her bag to her chair and pulled out her books one by one and laid them on the desk. She looked up catching Draco's eyes, when neither of them looked away, a smile appeared on his face. A smile that she had seen only a few times before on the face of Lucius Malfoy, a Slytherin prefect her first year. Looking back on it, she couldn't say she liked Lucius very much, however charming he could have been when it benefited him. He was a lot like the other Slytherins, arrogant, selfish, and obsessed with power. She could only assume the two were related, given they share a name and resemblance.

"Well, it's Malfoy. He's just as rotten and low down as Snape." Neville said picking himself up from the floor. He smoothed out his robes and sat down then looked up at Meg who was still standing beside him.

"Take that back." Meg pulled her eyes from Draco and looked at Neville in disgust. She trembled slightly as she processed what Neville had just said. "How can you claim to know just how 'low down' and 'rotten' he is? He's a better person than you give him credit for, Neville, I know he is. Draco may be a little weasel just like his father, but don't you ever compare any Malfoy to Severus." Meg just realized she had drawn her wand, holding onto it tighter than she normally would. She had reacted a bit harsher than she had meant to, but continued to hold her stance.

"Snape? A good person?" Neville laughed, but backed away from her as he replied. His eyes were nervous and questioning at first, then filled with pain as he looked down at his desk. "He killed Dumbledore."

_So, I was wrong._ Stunned silence over came Meg as she threw herself down in her chair. The words dug into her subconscious, everything she knew about her old friend crashing down in the hole they left behind. _He is a murderer._

"I, I didn't know." Meg was cut off by the sound of a door swinging open against the stone walls.

"Get your books out and sit down." A deep familiar voice came from the front of the room. Stepping off the last step leading from his office was the short, lumpy man Meg had run into after her meeting with Severus. The room went silent as he made his way to the front desk and opened a thick book laying on the edge. Licking his thumb he began to flip through the pages, not giving any signs that he noticed the class was even there. Students darted across the room to retrieve their books, or to find an empty desk. Amycus looked up and examined the class with expressionless eyes. "Malfoy, Parkinson, be quiet."

"Sorry, sir." Draco mocked, while another Slytherin, a pug faced girl with dark hair, snickered in his ear. Amycus' eyes hardened and he arm twitched as he reached for his wand, but he didn't do anything about Draco's smart tongue.

"I'll need help with the demonstration of today's lesson." The teacher said. Amycus' wand was out and ready waiting for its next victim. Those cold, dark eyes scanned the room again and rested on Meg. His mouth turned up in a smirk. "You. Come here." Instinctively, Meg was inclined to back away but was stopped by the back of her chair.

"Professor Carrow, I believe she's got stage fright." The pug faced Slytherin cackled. Meg couldn't help but to think of Bellatrix Black, but she was different. Meg had a feeling Bella would be more tolerable than this one.

"Shut up, Pansy." Draco rolled his eyes and gently shoved the girl as they continued muttering, occasionally interrupted by the girl's horrid laughter. Meg froze as she looked back to Amycus and saw him coming towards her, his wand no longer drawn, his face twisted and impatient. Her stomach started to squirm inside her torso as he got closer.

"I said come here." Amycus reached out his hand and grabbed the collar of her robes and pulled her forward onto her feet. The professor dragged her all the way to the front of the class room before almost throwing her to the ground. "Now, the Cruciatus curse isn't too difficult to master, in fact, given the proper motive, it's quite easy." Meg caught her balance just in time to look up and see the Professor, wand ready, in front of her. "_Crucio_!"

Seemingly a thousand white-hot needles suddenly dove into Meg's skin. The pain left her speechless and even unable to breathe, as the needles dug further leaving their molten trails in her muscle tissue and drilled into her bones. She was finally able to let out a scream, the pain becoming more and more unbearable the longer it lasted. Meg fell to her knees, unable to stand, unable to see through the tears forming in her eyes.

"Sir," Meg could hear someone's voice over the, again, silent agony. "Sir! I don't think that's really. . ."

Her screams came back drowning out the rest. The pain continued to dive deeper and flow through her veins for a few moments longer, every moment feeling like an hour. The curse finally let up and Meg could feel relief spreading to her limbs.

_I've never felt so much pain in my life_, she thought, her eyes heavy from the fatigue that overwhelmed her from the curse. She could hear the scraping of wood against stone as someone pushed back their chair. A moment later a hand was at her shoulder, Meg saw the pale fingers grasp her upper arm, and with a bit of difficulty, pull her to her feet. Her vision was soon consumed by the darkness behind her lids as she was lifted up into whose ever arms they were. She laid her head down on their chest and took a deep breath, letting their scent fill her lungs. Voices surrounded her, but the only thing she could hear was the silence of the absence of pain as she drifted into a waking dream.


	17. Chapter 17

~Chapter 17~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story. Beta: Artemis Fortuna. **

_The clicking of Meg's shoes echoed through the cellars. Her yellow robes were dragging on the ground behind her, she had pulled them off her shoulders to loosen her tie and collar. The castle was unusually hot, and she was desperate to cool down even if it meant breaking the dress code a bit. Turning a corner she dodged back behind the wall to avoid a Slytherin coming out of their common room. She didn't want to get caught going down there again, especially if it was Bellatrix. Meg held her breath and peaked out behind the turn in the wall to see a mop of greasy hair behind a potions book._

'_Good. It's just Severus__,' she thought. Meg pulled her robes back up on her shoulders and skipped towards her best friend. "Hi, Sevey! You missed Potions this morning, were you sick?"_

_"Nutmeg? When did you get back?" Severus looked up from his textbook, startled._

_"Get back? I didn't know I left. Are you feeling okay?" Meg laughed and lifted her arm to his forehead, as if to feel his temperature. Dropping her arm to her side again, she was temporarily distracted by the smell of the cellar. She had almost missed it, but the deep fragrance of lavender over the usual musk and mildew filled her senses. If it had shown up anywhere but here, the scent would have been attractive._

_'That's odd.'_

_"Can you smell that?" Meg asked, sniffing the air to find the source of the scent. It was very distinct even though it was faint, she remembered that smell. It was the same cologne a prefect used to wear a few years ago. She couldn't think why she smelled it now._

_"Smell what?" All Severus could smell was the mildew on the walls. That was the typical smell though, being under the Great Lake. "I think you maybe the one not feeling alright, Meg." He crookedly smiled and closed his book, tucking into a pocket inside his robes. Meg frowned, but let the subject go. The lavender still invading her nose, she sat down by the edge of the wall and watched Severus slide down the wall right next to her. The cold stone walls felt wet as she laid her head back and closed her eyes. She was so tired, wasn't really a reason why but she felt like crawling into bed. Meg felt her hand being lifted from her side as Severus spoke again. "You know, I missed you while you were gone."_

_"Missed me? I still don't know what you're talking about, Sevey." Meg replied. Severus' fingers spread apart and filled the space in between hers. She opened her eyes, and looked back at him, watching his hair fall into his face. She pushed his hair back so she could see his eyes, there was a brightness hidden behind their dark color looking back at her. Her stomach started to turn; she could swear her heart almost jumped. Her hand still by his face, she let it drop to her lap. Severus sighed and looked at their intertwined hands._

_"I don't really know how to say this, Meg," Severus voice shook. He raised his eyes to meet hers and shifted his body so he was sitting closer. Meg started to back away, stopping after Severus raised his hand to cup her cheek, moving closer till his face was inches away from hers. "I- I think..."_

_"Yeah?" Meg leaned in, partially filling in the space left between them until she could feel his breath on her lips._

_"I think you need to wake up."_

_"_You need to wake up, now." A familiar voice said. Meg felt a hand gently tap her cheek after a moment or two, she was awake but barely. The smell of lavender and musk filled her nose again when she took a deep breath. She heard a sigh and the crunch of leaves, who ever had spoken just sat down beside her. Just as Meg started to drift back to sleep, he spoke again. "It'd be nice to not be responsible for you anymore, you know."

"Ouch!" Meg yelped. Seconds after he spoke a shoe make contact with her side. He didn't kick her incredibly hard, but it still hurt considerably. She blinked, the sunlight seeming brighter than it really was. After she messaged her side for second she sat up and pushed her hair out of her face. She found herself sitting under a tree in the courtyard. Looking around, she saw Draco Malfoy sitting next to her, looking extremely annoyed.

"Finally, thank Merlin!" Draco said, picking himself up off the ground. "You've been asleep for over an hour."

"Sorry." Meg said. She didn't look at him, but around her on the ground. Her bag wasn't out there with them; it must have been left in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. She searched her robes with her hands still looking around, muttering a line of relief when she found her wand lying by her feet. Picking up her wand, she stood and dusted off her robes, at first surprised to see the yellow she was expecting replaced with red. "Why are we outside?"

"Couldn't let you sleep in the classroom. You'd get in the way, wouldn't you?" Draco had his back to her, already making his way back to the castle.

"Hey, wait up!" Meg yelled, running after him. Leaves rolled across the ground being pushed by a gust of wind. Before she knew it, her hair was in her face, causing her to spit as it went in her mouth. Meg suddenly regretted not having a hair tie with her, so she could pull it back. She gathered her dark curls and twisted them into a bun and held it in place with her right hand.

"Look, I just said I didn't want to be responsible for you. What makes you think I want you following me around?" Draco spun around to face her, his silver blond hair getting messed up in the wind.

"Well, you weren't responsible for me in the first place." Meg replied, almost angrily. Draco didn't respond, he turned his back to her again and took a few more steps toward the castle before he stopped.

"Who are you, anyway? Hogwarts doesn't accept transfer students, Nutmeg." Draco scoffed, turning back around. "Besides, I've seen the girls from Beauxbatons Academy." Draco laughed, looking her over. "Trust me, you're not one of them."

"I, uhm, It's a bit of a long story." Meg let her hair fall and follow the wind. She shied away from him, not entirely sure what his statement about Beauxbatons girls meant. Students started to wander around the school grounds, though the court yard, down to a little hut by the Forbidden Forest or out to the Great Lake. Second period would have been over by now, and some of them had free periods, some making their way to third. A few of them she recognized, having seen them in class or around the castle. "I have to go... get my bag."

"Longbottom took it with him." Draco said. Meg avoided his gaze as she walked past him, not looking back. If Neville had her bag, then she didn't need to go back to Amycus' classroom, which caused a lot of relief on her part. She had Charms next, but she was still so tired all she wanted to do is go back to the dorms and sleep until the next morning.

"Impish Augurey." Meg said. The painting of the Fat Lady moved aside to reveal the passageway and Meg stepped inside. It hadn't taken her very long to get up there, and fortunately the halls were pretty clear because most of the students had already made it to third period before she finished talking to Draco. The common room was warm and empty, the fireplace lit as usual. Meg stared into the flames for a minute, or longer, she couldn't tell. When she broke her gaze she noticed her bag sitting on the couch. She picked up her bag and went through it to see if all her things were in place, when she was assured they were she headed up the steps to the girls dorm.


	18. Chapter 18

~Chapter 18~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story. Beta: Artemis Fortuna. **

Meg woke with a start, her face was warm and her heart was beating fast. She blinked a few times and let her eyes adjust to the sunlight peaking in through the windows. The sun warmed her face as she lay in bed remembering her dreams. Suddenly she wasn't sure if the warmth in her cheeks really was from the sunlight, and not from blushing. She sat up straight, embarrassed at the images left over from her sleep. That was the second time she had that dream, only now, though, did she really notice all of it.

Severus. . . All the beds were already made, and the dormitory was empty when Meg looked around. She rubbed her eyes and let out a yawn, falling back down to her pillow. She stared at the bed curtains for a good while, letting herself forget about her dream. Taking a deep breath, she smiled as she closed her eyes. _Rather glad it's Saturday, get a day off from all this chaos. Maybe I'll get to relax a litt-_

_Bloody hell,_ Meg's eyes snapped open again, _It's Saturday._

Throwing the comforter back she hoped out of bed taking half the sheets with her as she fell to the floor. She looked around for the time, but the dormitory was excessively barren when it came to clocks. Meg dug out some clothes from her trunk, trying to find a match between ties and robes. Yellow hair ribbons and socks were everywhere making it impossible to find the red tie she knew was in the trunk somewhere. She came to the bottom and dug out her old Hufflepuff robes, holding them in her hands for a moment. It had been twenty years since she had worn them, but to her it had only been a few weeks, maybe a month. The yellow collar was faded with age and moths had gotten to the hem of the right sleeve. She shook her head, clearing it of the memories the robes held and put them aside. Finally, she spotted a red tie that had slipped to the bottom of the trunk. She threaded it around the collar of her shirt quickly tying it while she slammed the lid down on the trunk with her elbow.

"Morning, Nutmeg!" Neville greeted her from the couch as she came down the stairs. "Been wondering when you'd get up."

"Neville!" Meg smiled at him. "You don't happen to have the time?"

"I think it's almost noon, can't be sure though." Neville said.

"Bloody!" Meg made a direct line for the back of the Fat Lady's portrait, turning back towards the plump Gryffindor. "Sorry Neville, I'm really late."

Meg pushed the portrait forward and stepped out of the common room. The Grand Staircase was almost empty, and Meg assumed everyone was out about the grounds or in their common rooms. She made her way down the steps, taking them two at a time trying to get to Severus' office as quickly as she could. It would be the day after that silly dream she had the night before. She paused a few steps away from the sixth floor, letting the dream flood her consciousness.

_"I don't know how to say this, Meg." Severus voice shook, but his eyes were steady and focused on Meg. He ran his tongue between his lips, pulling his lower lip between his teeth. His hand tightening around hers and pulling her closer to him, he lifted his other hand letting his fingers gently brush across Meg's cheek and pushed her hair behind her ear._

_"Say what, Sevey?" Meg leaned in, looking down at Severus mouth. They were close enough for her to feel his breath against her face. Her eyes closed, and with Severus' hand at the back of her neck, he pulled her a little closer._

Meg was suddenly jerked out of her conscious dream as the staircase began to shift. Caught off balance, she fell into the stone railing and was almost thrown over before she steadied herself. Meg hurried down the last few steps and jumped for the platform that wouldn't be in front of her for much longer. The jump was a little farther than she expected, causing her foot to slip and a scream to escape from her lips. Her hand couldn't find anything to grab hold of and she waited to fall to the next floor, at the last minute her fingers wrapped around the stone railing. Her fall stopped with a jolt and she paused to catch her breath. Pulling her other hand up, she felt for the ledge and grabbed for it, but instead of stone she felt a shoe.

"You really should be more careful on those steps, LeTore." Meg moved her hand to the side and grabbed hold of the ledge before she looked up. Standing above her was Draco Malfoy with another Slytherin at his side. The other boy looked like the cross between a pig and a gorilla, he was quite fat with large arms and a flat nose, the blank expression on his face suggested that he wasn't too bright, either. He was concentrating on stuffing his face with pastries from lunch, in such a way that it seemed he wanted to get fatter than he already was. Draco lifted his head to look behind him and then to the gorilla boy. "Crabbe, where'd Goyle go?" Crabbe shrugged, and Draco rolled his eyes at the boy and sneered. "As if you'd know."

"Are you just going to sit and gawk, waiting for your friends or help me up?" Meg said after struggling to pull herself up on her own.

"I don't know, what if I don't want to?" Draco knelt down and took a bite of an apple he had been holding, letting the juices run down his chin a bit before wiping them away with the back of his hand. His cool gray eyes became sarcastic and devious as he looked from the fruit in his hand and down to her. He acted more and more like a Slytherin every time she saw him.

"Oh, bloody hell, Draco!" Meg started to slip, her hands clammy and nervous she restored [restabled isn't a word] her grip on the ledge. Another boy came up behind Draco and Crabbe. He was tall, with broad shoulders, abnormally large feet, and dark, bristly hair. Meg could only assume it was Goyle as he panted up the last few steps to meet his friends. She looked back to Draco who was still kneeling above her, holding the apple loosely in his hand aside his cheek. "For Merlin's sake, you're already here! Please?"

"Fine." Draco rolled his eyes and threw the apple to Crabbe before reaching down and wrapping his long fingers around Megs forearm. Meg pulled her hand away from the railing and helped pull the rest of her body up. Safely on the platform, she stood on her hands and knees and waited for her breath and heart to calm.

"Thanks." Meg muttered.

"What were you trying to do jumping like that anyway? Could've gotten yourself killed, or seriously hurt." Draco said, dusting off his robes with a look of pure disgust. "Not that it matters."

"I'm in a hurry." Meg said as she stood. Crabbe and Goyle stood in front of her, Draco, now, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed beside her. "So if you don't mind, I'd like to pass." Draco didn't move. Instead he stood there, one foot behind him, flat on the stone wall and stared at her. His eyes had that devious look again, a look that took over his whole face, every pointed feature. Meg glanced over to the Gorilla twins, timidly trying not to make eye contact when she walked forward. Goyle's small eyes narrowed as she came forward and then looked to Draco, as if for direction.

Draco rolled his eyes. A snap of his fingers and his goons stepped aside to let Meg pass. The rest of The Grand Staircase was, for the most part, empty on her way down. Concentrating on the stairs, Meg made sure not to get caught again. _Lucky Draco was there, really. _She thought as she stepped off on to the first floor. _Can't imagine what business he had up there on a Saturday, though. _A few more turns and the gargoyle guarding the headmaster's office came into view. Meg broke into a run, flying past the caretaker and coming to a brief halt before the statue.

"Pepper Imp." As soon as the words escaped Meg's lips, the gargoyle moved aside to show the staircase behind.

"You might not want to go up there right now." A deep rock voice said. Meg turned around to find no one there, and continued up a step or two before she heard it again. "You really want a repeat of you're last visit don't you?"

"Who said that?" Meg spun around, still seeing no one. And then the Gargoyle moved again, but just his mouth.

"The Headmaster has company." He said. "You might want to wait around the corner."

Meg took his advice and went down the hall a little ways until she came to a cross section. She hid behind the corner and waited for whatever 'company' was there, to leave. Sure enough, Alecto and Amycus Carrow went flying past her hiding spot a few moments later followed by two others. One was a pretty, dark haired woman with dark sunken eyes and a gaunt, skull like face.

"Bella?" Speaking a little louder than she meant, Meg covered her mouth quickly. The woman turned in her direction squinting into the shadows where Meg lay hidden.

"Hurry up, Bellatrix." The other man who followed the Carrows had stopped and waited for her. His voice was sharp and low, but smooth and almost seductive. He had long silver-blonde hair, which hung down his back, his face was pointed and thin. He had to be Lucius Malfoy.

"Shut up, Lucius. Not like you're in control around here anymore. I can do what I want." Bella's snide remark caused Lucius face twist with anger. "Besides, I thought I heard something." Bella took a step forward, walking like a cat as she moved. Lucius hand was soon at her arm, grasping tightly and pulling her away, just before she was close enough to find Meg. "What gives you the right to lay hand on me? You don't even have a wand. You're pathetic."

"All the more reason for you to keep up, Bellatrix. Don't want to make the Dark Lord angry by getting off schedule do you?" Lucius held back his anger as he confronted her. The silence between the two was tense during the next few moments before Bella rolled her eyes and followed Lucius down the hall. Meg could hear a muffled conversation as they walked away, not quite making anything out.

"Get your hand off me!" Bella's voice echoed down the hall one last time before they both disappeared into silence.

Meg was sighed in relief once the pair was out of sight. Thankfully, Alecto and Amycus had been long gone, and Meg would give anything not to run into those two outside of class. She stepped out of the shadows and back into the hall, making her way back to the gargoyle outside Severus' office.


	19. Chapter 19

~Chapter 19~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story. Beta: Artemis Fortuna. **

"Pepper Imps." Meg watched as the gargoyle silently reveled the staircase behind him. Taking the stairs two at a time while it was moving up, she was at Severus' office door in no time. She knocked twice.

"Come in." Severus' deep voice said through the thick door.

Meg opened the door, stepping inside as if she were a student called to detention. There was a broken vase by the door. Not past magical repair; it just lay on the floor as if a muggle lived there. Meg looked up at the headmaster; his face poorly lit by candles on his desk, the deep lines looking deeper in his concentration. Quill in hand, he was writing on what appeared to be an envelope, addressing it maybe. Unsure where it came from, Meg saw an owl swoop in to the room and wait patiently while Severus sealed the envelope and handed it to the owl. Fluttering quickly, the gray spotted owl disappeared from sight as Meg looked at her old friend's face. He looked tired, and his eyes were cold and hard these days, but they were more tired than anything this afternoon.

"Meg, what are you doing here?" He said, surprised.

"Uhm, I-" Meg stammered, turning back and pointing at the door and then to the desk. She felt odd, not sure what her hand motions had to do with anything, but she couldn't get the words to pass her tangled tongue.

"Oh, right." Severus pulled his wand from his robes and crossed over to a bookshelf near Meg. Passing the vase, he muttered a spell and the vase pulled itself together and placed itself back on a stand by the door. He paused as he came by Meg, his breath faltering as he glanced at her for only a second. Feeling blood rush to her cheeks, she turned her face to the floor and shook the thoughts away. Coming to a stop before the bookshelf, Severus waved his hand across the shelves, his fingers twitching as they had always done when he was looking for something specific. He pulled an old, ragged book from the top shelf and brought it over to his desk. He threw it down loudly, for it was a rather thick book. He spun around, his robes flowing around his body with a single wave of motion and looked at Meg expectantly. "Well, sit."

Meg stared at the seat in front of his desk, the one in which the book was facing. Her gaze migrated to the large book waiting on the desk. It was bound in leather, dark brown and worn out with age. At places, where you might keep your thumb while reading, it was worn completely through revealing the pages beneath. On the cover was elegant writing, possibly in another language. Though the writing was neat, the language itself was choppy and lacking any sort of recognizable symbols.

"Me-" The headmaster's voice rose, frustration rising with it. Meg's eye's darted from the chair to his face, his skin was severely pale bringing out the dark circles under his eyes. She looked into his black eyes, harsh, cold, and at the same time weak. Severus sighed, the frustration in his voice melting away into exhaustion. He outstretched his arm towards the chair across from him. "Ms. LeTore?"

She sat down, not taking her eyes from his face. Her hands folded in her lap, fidgeting with her fingers, popping her knuckles when she didn't know what else to do with them. Severus sat down before her, running his hands over his face and through his grease filled hair. He rubbed his eyes, closing them for a second before looking over to her and gesturing for her to take the book. He sighed, "Well, first, I came to the knowledge that you've met Draco Malfoy."

"Yeah, I met him in Potions the other day." Meg wasn't sure what Draco had to do with the book, or anything at all really. She was curious to see where Severus was going with the statement, but she barely had the chance to get her response out.

"Rhetorical, LeTore." Severus snapped at her. "What do you plan to do next week, for the Christmas holidays?"

"I'm not sure, I suppose stay at Hogwarts." Meg laughed under her breath. "What else can I do?"

Severus looked at her, not moving his head but only his eyes. "I'd advise you stick to that plan." His eyes drifted back down to the book on the desk. He sighed and picked it up, turning it towards him and opening it to a page toward the end. He pulled his wand from his robes and traced through the page with his fingers. "In the library you'll find a book on dwarfish."

"_Distinguo_." The tip of his wand traced the paragraph in the book and the words began to shimmer a deep gold. "I want you to find it when you leave. Study it until you can read this easily." He turned the book towards her, the gold shimmer pulsating around the symbols on the page. Meg took the book in her hands and studied the foreign symbols, made up of boxy, jagged lines. The figures made her head spin. The gold letters stood out against the rest of the page, so brightly it gave her a headache the longer she looked at them. Shaking her head, she looked back up at Severus who was now writing on a slip of parchment. He set his dusted white quill on the desk and handed the parchment to Meg. She took the paper in her hand as he began to speak again. His usual messy writing was shaky, making it harder to read. _Lost Languages of Magical Races_ was scrawled across the top, bunched together as if he hadn't had room. "I don't have time to explain it myself at the moment."

"Why not?" Meg studied his face. Her eyes traced the lines in his brow, then fell to his cheek bones. There was something off as she followed her eyes through across to his mouth, despite all the deep lines in his face that she had seen so much since she saw him a few months ago, he had no laugh lines framing his mouth. This didn't surprise her, it wasn't like Severus to smile often, but it seemed so out of place. But there, for that moment, on his lips was the partial smile that she always treasured. It faded soon enough into his usual frown, and his melancholy eyes dropped down to the desk before him, raising his brows before he spoke.

"I've had some business come up." He replied.

"It doesn't happen to have anything to do with Bella and Lucius Malfoy?" Meg couldn't help her curiosity, remembering the pair coming out of his office earlier. She could tell by the quick crossing in the hall that those two had continued to meddle in the dark arts. Hopefully, Severus had let go of the interest before it took hold, but somehow she doubted it. Severus only frowned and lifted himself from his chair. Taking a step towards the door, he reached out his arm for handle as he continued to walk. Meg gathered her things: the book, the parchment Severus had handed her, and made sure her wand was in her pocket.

"I think, sometimes, it's best to keep your thoughts to yourself, Ms. LeTore." Her friend said as he opened the door. Meg walked past him, her heart skipping as the back of her hand accidentally brushed against the buttons on his robes. Half way down the staircase already she heard the door slam behind her, complete with an echoed bang off of the walls.


	20. Chapter 20

~Chapter 20~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story. Beta: Artemis Fortuna. **

_"_Keep my thoughts to _myself?_ Right, because I don't have a right to know why I'm not getting any help here." Muttering to herself, Meg stormed through the corridors. Curious portraits watched as her robes caught onto a breeze as she ran past the court yard straight to the Grand Staircase. Meg paused at the bottom for a brief moment, staring at a white wisp of smoke formed by the third step up. Seconds later the Fat Friar was stepping out from the wall, and turning towards her. He met her eyes and floated back a few inches, a surprised look on his pale, misty face.

"Don't I know you?" He said, laughing. "No, no, you're a Gryffindor." He was the same as before, of course, but his mood was a bit less cheerful than Meg had remembered, despite his chuckling. Familiar faces were welcome though, and Meg was glad to see him. Ectoplasm misted around the floor, causing a shiver to go down Meg's spine when she remembered the last time she had seen him. The feel of ectoplasm passing through her body radiated in her mind for a moment before he spoke again, "Your mother must have been a Hufflepuff." Realization spread across his face. "Yes! Yes, I remember. Nutmeg, Nutmeg LeTore! You look just like her, remarkably so!"

Meg thought a moment. There was no way to play along, and she didn't really feel like it either. "I'm sorry, I really must go." Slimy shivers went up her spine as he past through her, mist spreading across the staircase. The ghost complained about being walked through, but Meg continued up the stairs two at a time. The eerie sound of footsteps echoed off of the walls through the silence of the corridor below. Meg stopped and looked around for the source. Sure enough, down below, heading towards the exit was Lucius Malfoy, closely followed by a boy who could only be his son, Draco.

"Slow down, you nitwits!" A gravely female said. Lucius and his son turned around, and soon enough Bellatrix Black walked out into the opening behind them.

"Bella, really, you must keep up or I'll have to stop taking you on these errands." Lucius said, annoyed. His hair was blonde, to his waist as it had been the only year they had attended school together. Meg never really paid much attention to him, she only knew he was kind to Severus and that was good enough for her. At least it was then. She was beginning to think her soft spot for the Slytherin house was misplaced.

"Shut up,_ Dearest_. I'm surprised the Dark Lord even allowed youto leave the manor." Bella strolled along the stone floor, towards Lucius and his son. A stone cold glare formed across Lucius' pale face. Aged as he was, the man was just as handsome as he had been his seventh year when Meg had known him.

"Hasn't changed a bit, that one." The Fat Friar said, floating a few steps below. "It's a shame she turned to You-Know-Who. Could have been a great ally to the Ministry. Then again," The ghost turned around, towards the wall. "I'd rather her still be locked up in Azkaban."

"Azkaban? Is she really that much of a threat?" Meg asked, watching the two wizards below bicker. Slowly, Draco started to pull away from his father, watching both the wizards just as carefully as Meg was. He turned his head up to the balcony where Meg was standing, he twitched his hand in an awkward wave when he saw her. Meg flashed a distracted smile, turning her head but not her eyes slightly towards the Fat Friar. Taking one more glance back, Draco sneaked away to the staircase.

"That much of a threat? You'd have to be to work for You-Know-Who." The Fat Friar said, just before disappearing behind the wall. It wasn't long before Meg heard clicking of shoes on the stone steps. Draco Malfoy was on his way up the stairs, straight towards her. From the neck up he looked fine, his bleach-blonde hair was slicked back neatly, he looked tired but awake. However, looking down, his robes and tie were crooked, his pants were a bit wrinkled, and his left shoe was untied. Meg didn't know why she hadn't noticed he was such a mess before.

"Nutmeg. I needed to talk to you." He seemed hesitant, almost nervous. He looked over the edge of the balcony, down at the two wizards still fighting below. "I, I was wondering what you were doing over the Christmas holidays."

"Nothing. Just research and homework at school, I suppose." Joining him at the edge, Meg examined his face. Closer up he looked exhausted, below his ice blue eyes were dark circles, and his skin was paler than she'd ever seen skin be. "What's wrong?"

"What?" He looked up startled, his eyes searching the empty space in front of him, past the edge of the Grand Staircase. "Oh, don't. . . I," Draco rubbed his eyes and sighed heavily. His chest rose and fell again, in a hypnotic pattern during the pause he took. "Then come to the- to my house. I mean, if you'd rather study at Hogwarts, I'd understand."

"_Must be why Severus brought Draco up earlier, in his office_." Meg thought, recalling what Severus had said to her earlier.

_"What do you plan to do next week, for the Christmas holidays?" Severus said, rubbing his eyes. His hands shook as he brought them back down to the table not looking at her, but expecting a response._

_"I'm not sure, I suppose stay at Hogwarts." Meg laughed under her breath. She almost smiled at the Professor, but hid the involuntary movement by licking her lips. "What else can I do?"_

_Severus looked at her, not moving his head but only his eyes. "I'd advise you stick to that plan." _

_But then, the Headmaster's office door slammed in her face._

"I'd love to Draco. Thanks." Meg smiled, but Draco didn't return the gesture. Frustrated, it seemed, he pulled his eyebrows together and pushed himself off the edge of the balcony. Below, Bellatrix and Lucius were almost at wands end, throwing insults back and forth. "I assume they don't much get along, do they?"

"What? Oh, my father isn't exactly. . ." Draco absent-mindedly looked down at the pair, just as Meg was, then down to the floor. Bella drew her wand and pointed it straight at Lucius' face. His hand went to his side, grabing at the empty space realizing what he needed wasn't there. Draco started, almost jumping off the balcony. He turned and ran down the stairs, stopping breifly to look back at Meg. "Sorry, I have to go. I'll see you in class."

Meg watched as Draco pulled Bellatrix wand down, away from his father's general direction. He spoke to both of them, though Meg couldn't hear what was exchanged. Lucius relaxed, and with a last glare at Bellatrix he seemed satisfied with what Draco was saying. Soon he turned to take his leave, closesly followed by Bella. Meg continued to watch Draco, turning on his heels he made his way down to the slytherin common room.


	21. Chapter 21

_AN:_

_Hey, guys!_

_Sorry, I haven't updated in a while. My laptop's been out of commission! Don't forget the holidays and work, but I'm starting up on all my stories again, and a new __fanfiction for Yu-Gi-Oh! is coming soon for those interested! Happy reading!_

_-Manus Fati_

~Chapter 21~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story. Beta: Artemis Fortuna. **

Nutmeg remained at the balcony, leaning over the edge. The door leading to the main hall slammed behind Draco, leaving Meg to her own thoughts. "_I really should have listened to Severus. I'm sure he has good intentions, like he always has. It's just..."_ Meg scanned the empty staircase. Everyone must have been packing for the holidays, or out on the grounds; after all it had snowed last night and the castle was beautiful. The meeting at Severus' office played out again in her head as she stared out the closest window at the falling snow.

_"What do you plan to do next week for the Christmas holidays?" Meg was confused by her friend's sudden change of topic. Trying to figure out what Draco Malfoy and the Christmas holidays had to do with each other was indeed a chore. Something more had been going on the last few weeks she'd been here, more than Severus would tell her. All the secrecy was forcing this whole ordeal to be anything but simple._

_"I'm not sure, I suppose stay at Hogwarts," Meg laughed under her breath. "What else can I do?" Severus looked relieved in a way, but it was hard to tell if his face changed at all. He looked up at her with only his eyes, the same black color as she had known them to be. _

_"I'd advise you stick to that plan."_

"Well, I guess I certainly didn't stick to it." Meg said aloud to herself. "I suppose I should get that book before I leave for the holidays though." Pushing herself away from the balcony edge, Meg followed the stairs to the fourth floor. Quickly, she pulled out the parchment Severus had given her earlier from her bag; _Lost Languages of Magical Races _was still scrawled across the top in his messy handwriting. Passing through the front doors of the library, Meg was almost hit in the face by a book passing by. Waving it away, she went over to the front desk where Madam Pince, as she probably was when Meg left, was sitting examining a few books that a student just dropped off.

"Can I help you?" The vulture-like librarian said, without looking up.

"Yes, I'm looking for this book." Meg held out the parchment to the woman. "The headmaster told me to check it out."

"You are aware that the holidays are coming up?" Madam Pince looked up, below the rim of her hat with an annoyed smile on her face. "_And_ that you are not allowed to take the books off the grounds?"

"Yes, ma'am." Meg continued to hold out the parchment above the desk, waiting for the woman to take it. The librarian pursed her lips and took the paper from Meg's hands. Frowning, she motioned for the student to follow her to the back of the library. Meg silently watched Madam Pince's hat bounce, and her robes flow behind her in an odd, organized manor. A Slytherin sneezed as she passed them, and was punished by being hit in the back of the head with a feather duster Madam Pince always carried with her.

"You'll find what you need in the back row, under _L_," the vulture pointed a few shelves over, and then headed back to her own desk. "Don't forget to put it back _exactly_ where you found it. If you want to check it out, you'll have to come find me." Meg nodded, and made her way to the shelves that Madam Pince directed her to. Books were flying everywhere, and a few shelves away was the restricted section, closed off by a rope. Meg just came to the right shelf as she heard the librarian going off on another student. "NO EATING IN THE LIBRARY!"

Meg sat down at a table, _Lost Languages of Magical Races _in hand. With a bit of difficulty, she lifted her bag onto the table and pulled out the book that she received accompanying the parchment. She opened the book to the marked page, where Severus had marked the passage in gold. The passage glittered, and seemed to almost move on the page. Meg continued to stare at the figures for a moment before opening the other book. It was a while before she could find the section on dwarfish, but she sat down and studied the section until her eyes were tired and sore. A few hours later, just as the sun was about to set, she sat down her pen beside the parchment she was using to translate and read what she had so far.

_The Second Day of the Third Month,_

_ I've been lost for some time now, keeping this journal is the only way for me to keep track of when and where I am. Of course, I'm staying in the same place, but the time, it seems changes all around me. I've come to realize recently that it is my own doing and not that of the universe's. Though, in the past few days I have been able to control the ability better than I have before. . . _

The rest was hard to make out, but it seemed that the ability to time travel wasn't restricted to wizards and witches alone. Not only did this dwarf share her ability, but he was managing to control it as well. The runes were smudged a bit here and there, being a hand written journal and very old. The spell Severus cast helped define the runes a bit more, but not without adding difficulty. Meg sighed and rubbed her eyes, letting them relax before she left to go back to the dorms.

"Meg!" A soft dreamy-distracted voice quietly called her name. Meg looked up to see Luna Lovegood with a butterbeer cork necklace hung around her neck and her wand tucked behind her ear. "I've been wondering where you've been getting to. I've been meaning to ask you about the meetings Neville and I invited you to."

Meg was confused for a moment, "Oh, you mean the party?"

"That's right. I was just on my way now, if you wanted to go." Luna smiled.

"I guess I would like a break from all this," Meg looked at all the work that was laid before her and sighed again. Rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes, Meg gathered her things and followed Luna out of the Library. The entire way up the Grand Staircase, Luna spoke of everything from Hinkypunks to Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. Passing the Fat Lady where the Gryffindor common room was, they past into another section of the corridor. This part of the 7th floor was empty except for Meg and Luna. The small Ravenclaw paced in front of the wall a few times but nothing was there, until the wall began to morph. Soon there was a large wooden door where only stone had been before.

Twisting the door handle, Luna broke her usual conversation, "I'll have to warn you though, not everyone likes that you'll be here."

"I don't even know if she'll be here, Ginny." Neville's voice came as soon as the door opened. Meg stepped in the room, taking in the bookshelves lining the walls. There were books about defensive spells, Dark Magic, and all sorts of devices. Dueling dummies lined the back wall, some of them already set up on long rectangular rugs. A tall red headed girl was in the middle of the room talking with Neville. Meg had seen her in Gryffindor tower before, but they'd never exchanged so much as a word.

"You barely even know this girl, Neville!" The red head was now yelling at Neville as Meg and Luna walked into the room. "How do you know she can be trusted? She's awfully chummy with Snape and Draco, I don't exactly find that redeeming company!"

"She's a new student, of course she'd have to visit the Headmaster every now and then!" Neville retorted Ginny's argument. His voice got quieter when he saw who had walked in the room.

Meg realized something then. Both Neville and Luna knew her secret. Neville was there when Meg showed up, and it was Luna that found an article on her from 22 years ago. The two must have talked to each other and put two and two together. Meg's heart started pounding nervously as she looked at Neville, trying to silently tell him not to say too much.

"Besides, I think she'll be great asset." Meg let out a sigh of relief.

Ginny grew quiet and looked at Meg as she walked in the room. Meg smiled at her but she only glared at Neville one last time and sank behind him. Ginny stood there silently, watching as other students came into the room, every now and then suspiciously eying Meg.

"Sorry, I wish you hadn't heard that. But, I'm glad you came!" Neville walked up and hugged Meg, welcoming her. "This is the Room of Requirement. We hold meetings here so we can actually learn Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"You've seen how the Carrows teach," Ginny said, her mouth still twisted into a scowl. "I'm sure you realize it wasn't defense Amycus was demonstrating." Meg remembered the pain she felt at the hand of the Cruciatus Curse preformed by Amycus Carrow, and she flinched, feeling the memory. "Anyway, that's why we're here. To defend ourselves against wizards like the Carrows, not to mention Voldemort."

"_Voldemort? I wonder if he could be this Dark Lord I keep hearing about."_ Meg thought, _"Maybe, this group could shed a little light on everything. Severus certainly won't."_

"I've never seen you before," A boy dressed in blue robes spoke up. "I thought this was exclusive, member's only and what not."

"Neville and I invited her, Anthony. She's not from around here," Luna interrupted. "An exchange student, right, Meg?"

"Oh, right. From Beauxbaton's Academy." Meg replied, after being nudged by Luna's elbow. The cover Severus had given her would have to do, as long as Neville and Luna played along. Ginny narrowed her eyes, still mistrusting of new visitor. She lowered her head just a bit to speak to Neville privately for a moment. The other members were scattered about the room, mostly sticking to their own houses. All the houses were present, except for Slytherin. There wasn't a single green robe in sight.

"Well, whether you're from around here or not I suppose you still need some ability to fend for yourself in battle." Ginny said, pulling out her wand. Luna gave Meg a smile of support. "Maybe we can see what level your at." Ginny said and turned to Neville. "I guess you could work with everyone else?" Ginny twisted on her heels and led the way to the back of the room, where the rectangular rugs were set up. "You'll duel me, while the rest of the group practices." Meg followed Ginny to the other side of the room. The redhead pushed a dueling dummy out of the way, and took her place at the far end of one of the rugs. Meg took her place at the opposite end of the rug, drawing her wand just before Ginny cast her first spell. "_Alarte Ascend-!"_

"_Aqua Eructo_!" A jet of water burst from the tip of Meg's wand, hitting Ginny square in the chest and sent her to the floor before she could finish her own incantation. Ginny quickly got to her feet, and held her wand at the ready position. This time with no incantation a red light appeared from the tip of her wand, hitting Meg in the left shoulder. Throbing pain developed in her arm from the spell, eventually completely numbing her entire arm. Switching her wand to her good hand, she quickly took aim at Ginny, "_Entomorphis_!" A scream escaped Ginny's lips just before her body morphed into an insect-like creature, still wearing her robes. It crawled into a corner, and her wand fell to the floor. Neville waddled over as quickly as he could to see what had happened.

"Looks like this duel is over. . ." Neville said, watching the insect crawl around in a circle on the floor. He tried to repress a look of disgust; even though it was Ginny, the sound of a giant insect was still revolting. "Not exactly time travel but-"

"Shut up, Neville!" Meg shushed him, looking back at the other students to see if they heard. Luckily everyone was involved in their own duels or getting instructions from Luna. One student shrunk a dueling dummy as it came at him from across the room. "I know you were there, but I don't exactly think it'd be a good idea if anyone else knew."

A disgusting crunching noise came from Ginny's direction as her form began to transfigure back into her human body. She shook and squirmed trying to push the insectoid feeling from her limbs. "Bloody hell, Meg. I think Neville's right; you could be an asset to the DA." She paused a moment, and shook again, this time ruffling her hair a bit. Now she was staring Meg down, curiosity and seriousness combined in her features. "By the way, what do you mean by time travel?"


	22. Chapter 22

~Chapter 22~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story. Beta: Artemis Fortuna. **

"What do you mean, 'time-travel'?" Ginny glanced towards Neville, then back to Meg.

"It's a little hard to explain." Meg stammered. Neville's fingers embraced her right palm presenting a comforting warmth in her hand. In his eyes was an apologetic look, an understanding of her nerves. Whether he understood why she was nervous, his face never told, but he silenced her with a short squeeze of his hand. Not much time went by while Neville explained how they had met, though he couldn't fill in all the details. He would pause every now and then for an answer from Meg, asking for details she never shared.

"After Luna and I took her to the Hospital Wing, Luna wanted to go to the library." Neville said over her silence. "It was like being around Hermione for a minute, there. She said she remembered the name 'LeTore' from somewhere, but where she'd heard it was fuzzy. Eventually, we found a missing person's article from an old Daily Prophet in the archives. There she was, staring back at us." He paused a minute, as if confirming his memory, "Only it was dated from 1975."

"Anyway, you've probably come to the same conclusion Luna and Neville did," Meg interrupted, addressing Ginny. Neville had released her hand before going into his story, making it easier for Meg to leave. "And it's true, only I ask you not to speak of it to anyone but Neville, Luna, and I?"

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." Ginny stared at the floor while Meg turned her back. "Only, I have to ask something of you."

"Yes?" Meg was slightly worried.

"Why, exactly, do you spend so much time with Snape?" Ginny pursed her lips, waiting for the answer that would determine where she lay her trust. Meg remembered her conversation with Neville so long ago, when she had first arrived in their time. "Forgive me for asking, I don't know if you realiz-"

"It's nothing," Meg started, only half lying, "I don't belong here, is all. He knows that, and he's helping me get home."

Ginny's eyes narrowed, scanning Megs face for false testimony. Her eyes softened, realizing the half-truth behind Meg's explanation. "I suppose it makes sense. We'll see you at the next meeting, don't have much of a choice but to instate you." Meg smiled, taking a coin that Ginny pulled from her pocket. "That will call you the next time we have a meeting. Oh, and I forgot something. . . "

. . .

The platform outside the train was still crowded with students waiting to board, and a few just there to say goodbye to their friends for the winter holidays. No one was wearing their Hogwarts uniforms, only a few were wearing any kind of robes at all. Meg was wearing some of the clothes packed away in her old trunk, recently cleaned, scrubbed, and repaired of all the damages of time. Moths had gotten to most of her clothes, but she managed to save most of them with a mending spell or two. That morning she packed away most of her things, including her robes, and picked out a few outfits for the winter break. She wondered how many of them were out of style by now. She pulled the bag she packed her thinks in over her shoulder and scanned the cars for someone she knew, Neville, Luna, Ginny, especially Draco. After all, she was staying with him the next few weeks. Meg was nearing the teacher's car, and began to head back towards the front.

"Nutmeg," The smooth voice called her from ahead. Draco was walking towards her from the bathroom in the car behind her. "Thought you might not show."

"I said I'd come, didn't I?" Meg smiled slightly, remembering Severus' warning even now. A slytherin girl passed by, heading towards the girl's bathroom with a snide look on her face. Draco greeted her as she passed and continued on, as if Meg weren't there anymore.

"Sorry," He whispered as he passed, and he made his way to Slytherin's car without another word or glance back.

_The more I hang about Slytherins, the less I like them_. Meg thought. _Still, there's some soft spot I have for a few of them. . ._

Neville, Luna, and Ginny were all sitting in the same carriage by the time Meg got to the front of the train. They must have got on after her, because they weren't there when Meg boarded. Ginny beckoned her to the carriage, then helped her put her things up on the shelf above their seat. Hellos and greetings exchanged all the while, followed by a strange silence. Meg sat down, and finally looked around for the first time. Neville's face was covered in healing bruized, actually Meg had passed many students covered with injuries of that sort.

"I wanted to apologize for the other night." Ginny said. "It's not something we usually do. . ."

"What do you mean?" Meg smiled, a feeble attempt to shrug it off was ruined by her curiosity. Ginny closed the doors, looking around for any stray ears.

"The unbreakable vow." She replied, and Meg remembered the ribbon's of fire wrapping around her arm as she spoke the vows. Never to reveal, conspire against, or betray Dumbledore's Army in any way. "It's not usually something we expect of our members, I just wanted to be sure."

"Oh," Meg sat down next to Luna, her radish earrings jingled as she moved her copy of_ The Quibbler _to her lap, instead of Meg's seat.

"It's just with Voldemort having taken over Hogwarts, it's hard to know who can be trusted anymore." Ginny must have seen the questions rising in Meg's mind, though she tried to hide them. "Right, you disappeared before he rose to power, didn't you?"

"Maybe, just a bit." Meg laughed lightly. "I recall a dark wizard travelling through Europe for a while, but I never really learned his name. I guess I traveled here before he did much damage."

"Well, good thing I suppose. Being friends with-" Ginny was stopped short by Neville, and continued to explain, "Anyway, long story short, he was defeated a quite a few years ago by Harry Potter. Bit of an embassarsment for him really," Ginny giggled, but only slightly. "Harry was only a year old when it happened. Anyway, Voldemort is back now, about as strong as ever I assume. Snape and the Carrow's are deatheaters, follow his footsteps to every print."

"Yeah, Neville may have mentioned something like that." Meg looked at her feet. Neville and Luna, along with Ginny, continued to talk and gabber, leading the conversation to less important things. Perhaps where they were going for the Christmas holidays, or if they might meet up sometime during the break, maybe go to Hogsmead. Meg let her mind wander, back to memories of Voldemort's, now apparent, rise to power. Back to the moment she'd noticed, and dismissed, Severus' interest in the Dark arts.

_Quickly, Meg went straight to the Slytherin Common room after her meeting with Professor McGonagall. She was anxious to tell Severus what had happened. When she finally dodged all the students in the dungeons she uttered the password that would let her into the not-so-foreign common room. She wasn't even supposed to know the password, but she'd spent so many nights there, staying up or studying or just talking with Severus. There he was, laying on the couch with his nose buried in the same book he'd had at lunch. This time, the brown parchment cover was slipping. Meg could make out the title: 'The Dark Arts: A Legal Companion.' Meg could come up with thousand plausible reasons that Severus was reading that book, and she could believe any one of them that made him look innocent._

'_A class assignment, has to be.' She thought._

_Severus looked up from his place on the couch, "Nutmeg! What are you doing here?" Placing the book down he got up, greeting her with a hug and a smile. "Are you alright? You left in such a hurry today."_

_"Sorry, I had to clear something up." Meg said, letting Severus take her hand and guide her to the couch. She felt so tired, regardless of her long stay in the hospital wing._

_"Any luck?" Severus kicked the book under the couch when they sat down._

_"Afraid not, Professor McGonagall knows just about as much as I do." She said. Her mind snapped to the scene earlier at lunch before she left; Bellatrix Black and two Slytherin boys making their way over to Severus. Meg couldn't help but worry, after all, that cousin of his was quite influential. "What did Bella want today, anyway?"_

_"Not you too?" Severus' eye's pleaded with her to drop the subject. "Lilly brought that up as well. Said she was hanging about too much, that she's never up to any good."_

'Well, She's right_,' Meg thought, not pressing the subject._

_. . ._

_"Well, it's Malfoy. He's just as rotten and low down as Snape." Neville said picking himself up from the floor. Smoothing out his robes, he sat at his desk and looked back to Meg who was still standing next to him._

_"Take that back," Meg said harshly as she pulled her eyes from Draco to look at Neville in disgust. She trembled slightly as she processed what Neville had just said. "Draco may be a little weasel just like his father, but don't you ever compare any Malfoy to Severus." Meg just realized she had drawn her wand, holding it tighter than she normally would. Drawn, but her wand wasn't necessarily pointed at Neville or aimed anywhere really. However, she did react a bit harsher than she'd meant._

_"Snape? A good person?" Neville laughed, but backed away from her as he replied. His eyes were nervous and questioning at first, then filled with pain as he looked down at his desk. "He killed Dumbledore. . ."_

_He Killed Dumbledore,_ Meg echoed Neville's pain filled words in her head. Again and again that line played, Meg being able to picture nothing but the boy she'd once known, instead of the apparent cold-blooded murderer Severus was accused of being. The three others in the carriage were still chattering amongst themselves after being ignored by Meg almost the entire ride.

"Meg, we're here." Luna smiled, getting Meg's attention by tapping her leg. Luna wasn't looking at her, or anyone else, but out the window at Platform 9 3/4. "Almost home."

'


	23. Chapter 23

~Chapter 23~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story. Beta: Artemis Fortuna. **

Meg stepped off the train and into the sea of students and smoke. The greetings from parents filled the air were accompanied by chattered goodbyes from friends. King's Cross Station hadn't changed much since Meg's original days at Hogwarts, and she was glad to see it. Dumbledore was gone, and evil wizard was in power, even her best friend was different. But, if nothing else, Platform 9 3/4 had remained the same. That was comforting for her.

"Move, filthy half breed." Pansy Parkinson shoved through the crowed, right past Meg. A slender, pale hand rested on Meg's shoulder as she watched Pansy bull through the crowd.

"Don't mind her, she's. . . just upset." Draco said, guiding Meg forward. "My aunt is supposed to meet me here. Let me talk to her first." A tall woman with thick, curly black hair stood at the wall leading to the muggle side of King's Cross Station. Her heavy lids narrowed and her lips parted before twisting into a thin, suppressed smile. Draco put his hand out in front of Meg, to stop her while he went and talked to the woman. Their heavy whispers couldn't be discerned above the crowd, but his aunt's eyes rarely left Meg's face the entire time they spoke.

_ "I can't seem to stay away from Bellatrix at all," _Meg thought, trying to escape Bella's stare. Draco waved over to her, and Meg nervously came up to his side.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch your name." Bella stuck out her hand, eyes widening just a bit. Shaking Bella's hand was something she had never done, and not something she planned on doing now. Meg left the witches hand hovering in the air between them. Bellatrix's pale hand fell back down to her robes after a minute, and a loose frown spread across her thin lips. Draco grabbed Meg's hand and the next thing she knew it felt as if she had the sensation of being squeezed through a rubber tube. Almost instantly, an elaborate manor stood before them. Even though it was surrounded by beautiful gardens, the house still had a dark, eerie feeling about it. _O_n top of the hedge by a large iron gate, a white peacock ruffled it's feathers and spread out it's long tail.

Bella, looking slightly annoyed, looked up at the bird then walked forward, right through the gate as if it were made of smoke. "Wormtail? What are you doing here?"

"_He_ sent me to see if you were here yet. The meeting's already started while you were out. . ." The short, rat like man looked directly at Meg and Draco. "While you've been out babysitting."

"Oh, shut up." Bella barked. The ugly old man had watery eyes, and a long pointed nose, his squeaky voice protested her outburst with a small yelp. "I've been out, but I'm not babysitting. Tell _him_ we'll both be in, in a moment." Bella turned to Draco and smiled, "Don't be late, dear."

"I'll try my best." Draco responded, watching both Bella and 'Wormtail' walk away towards the mansion. Draco and Meg had yet to even cross through the smoke like gate, and walked forward with their bags. Meg's bag was slightly heavy, but, Draco made no move to help her with it. Cooling air misted past her face as she stepped through the gate, and into the garden surrounding Draco's home. The white peacock clumsily glided down to the grass below when the great doors slammed behind Bella and the rat like man. "Sorry about my aunt. . . She can be a bit-"

"It's fine, I'm used to people like her." Meg cut him off. Of course she was used to Bella, just like Kings Cross, she hadn't changed at all. She was still as cruel and rude as ever.

Meg pulled her bag up the stairs the the room that Draco had pointed out. When she got there, a woman with long blond hair was spreading out the pillows on the bed. She stood up and Meg could see that she would be an attractive woman if it weren't for the expression on her face. The woman gave out an exasperated sigh, obviously not happy with the company she had to share her house with. "I can't beleive we'd have to open our house to a half-blood." The woman muttered walking past Meg and into the hallway. The woman turned around and addressed Meg directly before she left, "I wouldn't suggest wondering around to much. It could prove dangerous for you, if not inconvenient for me."

The guest room was darker than what Meg was used to, but, beautiful and ornate. The overwhelming color theme was a dark green accompanied with black and silver. The curtains hung loosly across the windows, blocking out any sunlight that escaped into the room through the black shades. Candles lined the fireplace and lit up the area by the bed from a candelabra hanging from the wall. Meg placed her bag, packed with only enough for the holidays, at the foot of the bed and began to unpack a few things.

Later, after she unpacked a bit, Meg began to feel restless. She wasn't done unpacking (nor did she plan on finishing) so she quietly tip-toed to the door. Trying not to let it squeak, Meg opened the door and peaked into the hallway. It hadn't been too long since she ran into, who she only assumed was, Draco's mother. The muggle phrase '_curiosity killed the cat_' came to mind, but Meg ignored her instincts and Mrs. Malfoy's warnings. The halls where just as ornate as the bedroom she was staying in. Pictures of the Malfoy family hung in the walls, but some had been burned or fallen down. Meg soon found her self downstairs by the dinning room when she heard voices coming from inside. "Who is this girl?" The voice was cold and demanding, almost frightful.

"No one that ought to concern you, My Lord." Meg stepped closer as Severus responded, surprised to hear his voice. "An exchange student from Beaubaxton Academy."

"I wasn't aware that Hogwarts took exchange students, Severus." The cold voice responded. Every time he spoke shivers shot through Megs body like ice water was being pushed through her veins.

"They don't," Bellatrix spoke up. Meg gathered the courage to look through the crack in the door. Bellatrix was the only one standing. She and Severus were accompanied by twenty or more people gathered around the dinning room table. Draco was at the end with his mother and Lucius Malfoy. At the end of the table in front of the fireplace sat a strange creature with a large snake around his chair. He couldn't be called a man, for his features were too distorted and reptilian. However, there was nothing else he could be called either. His skin was so white it was almost translucent, and his hair was gone, leaving the top of his head smooth. The creature's eyes were red and slitted like a cat's. One, unnaturally long hand with lengthy, pale blue nails stretched up and patted the snake on it's head. Bellatrix had been speaking the whole time, trying to avoid eye contact with the creature as he listened to her. "I thought I'd recognized her at the train station. Her name is Nutmeg LeTore. She's a half-blood witch I went to school with, if even that. It was never proved she had even_ that_ much magic blood."

"That's not possible Bella, she's only 16." Draco's mother said. "I don't see why it's such an outrage; she's just one girl. Shouldn't we be discussing things like Harry Potter, My Lord?" The reptilian creature looked around the table as every person spoke, responding with false patience.

"If she was not important, I wouldn't have wasted my time having Draco invite her would I?" His cold voice scolded the woman severely and she didn't speak again. Directing his gaze towards Bella he continued, "I would have to side with Narcissa on part of this, unless you would care to explain?" His voice sent ice through Meg's body again. "Or, perhaps we can ask her ourselves?" His red eyes alone moved from the Malfoys to the great wooden door's that Meg stood behind, and the snake slithered from his shoulders and onto the table. The reptile inched its way quickly down the table and struck the doors with a brute force that sent them flying open. Meg was thrown to the floor, scrambling away from the snake who hovered in place between her and the doors. Bellatrix smiled, a few other's that Meg recognized had a look of shock on their face. The creatures sat at the end of the table expectantly, "Well?"

Meg looked from one face to another, not one of them appeared any more frightening than the creature by the fireplace. The snake circled her for a moment or two then became bored and slithered under the table, back to her master. "The Dark Lord asked you a question, girl!" Alecto Carrow screeched, pulling out her wand.

"That won't be neccissary, Alecto." The creature stood up, slowly yet gracefully, and walked over to Meg. She was still sitting on the floor when he got to her, his long fingers touched the side of her head. She could feel something diving into her mind. Her thoughts raced out of her control, the creature flipped through her memories like a book until he found the one he was looking for.

_"There. You're lucky Evans was here _Snivellus_." Potter was mocking Severus as he stood to his feet, and attempted to pull his pants up. He was 16 again. His hair was a tangled mess from being held upside down, and his robes didn't fare much better. _

_ "I don't need any help from a filthy mud-blood." Severus said as he wiped down his robes. He pushed his hair out of his face just in time to see Lilly Evans look of surprise, her eyes grew cold as she began to scold him._

_ "Fine, I won't bother in the future," Lily turned to walk away, "And I'd wash my underpants if I were you, _Snivellus._" _

_ Meg was coming up behind Sirius Black, who was standing by watching James, as Lily stormed past. It wasn't long before Severus was up in the air again, hanging by his ankles. James Potter was milking the moment as far as it would go, Severus dropped his books on the ground and his robes fell up over his head again. _

_ "What the Bloody Hell do you think you're doing Potter?" Meg pushed past Black and the other Gryffindors. She gathered her free hand in a fist and it flew at Potter's face. _

Meg Felt sick again, flying through the memory of traveling into this horrible future. Her stomach turned, making her wish the man with red eyes would let go of her temples. Spinning around and around, her memories finally took her to when she landed on the Hogwarts grounds and ended up punching Neville in the face.

"Ah," The creature sighed, "Such a rare talent you have." His long nails waved in front of her face as he drew his hands away from her head. Her temples were pulsing from the invasion of privacy and she felt her stomach rise to her throat.

"My Lord, I don't think that's necessary." Severus stood up.

"I will decide what is and is not necessary, Severus." The creature snapped. "I should kill you right now."


	24. Chapter 24

_(AN: My beta is busy with school and such, and I've been so anxious to start writing again that I decided to go ahead and post! Hopefully it's not too bad on my own. haha. Let me know? ~ Manus Fati)_

~Chapter 24~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story. **

The creature had taken his attention from Meg, and was fully focused on the man he had threatened to kill. His feet were bare against the tile floor and didn't make a sound as he slowly approached Severus, anger radiating on his nose-less face. Though Severus had not sat down or backed away from the creature approaching him, he stiffened and his breath staggered. The creature seemed not to notice the change in Severus' stature... or didn't care. Not a single eye strayed from the scene, not a single person dared move. Only the footsteps of the creature could be heard through the silence, until he stopped only inches from Severus. At the table, Bellatrix was watching the creature move, nearly jumping with admiration and excitement. When he finally spoke, Meg could feel her body temperature drop. "Did you really think you could _hide _it from me? Surely you would have known of her... _talents._"

"I _knew _it. I knew he couldn't be trusted, My Lord!" She bellowed, almost hopping onto the table. She looked to the Malfoys, particularly Draco's mother, an unfriendly fire in her eyes. "I told you last year! Didn't I tell you, Sissy? _Didn't _I?"

"Quiet, Bellatrix!" The creature's voice rose considerably, taking his attention from Severus for a brief moment. A few people jumped when he first yelled out and Pettigrew almost fell from his chair. Bella, however, stood there with her mouth hanging open and shocked at the rejection of her 'Lord.' He ignored her and quickly addressed Severus again. "Well?"

"I was simply waiting until the proper moment, My Lord-" Severus never looked at the creature, but straight ahead at the wall. Everyone else at the table couldn't seem to find something to focus on, their attention wandering across the room from the creature to Severus. Some decided to look at the ceiling or candles lit across the room. Only Draco could keep his focus on one spot, he never looked away from the edge of the table in front of him.  
"Proper... Moment?" The creature hissed. He took a step to the side, behind Severus, and began to circle the table like a vulture not drawing his eyes from the man he was speaking to. "_When_ _was_ this 'proper... moment'?"

"My Lord, she's not in control quite yet, if I could only train her first..." Severus adjusted his view to look just behind the creature. He paused a moment when he saw the snake hovering in front of Meg. His eye's narrowed for a second, then as he turned his attentions back toward the creature his eyebrows rose with certain cunning. "Equip her... with the knowledge we have now and then send her back."

"Back?" The creature's outburst was calm, but abrupt. "Why?"

"He's lying, My Lord!" Bellatrix chimed in again, only to be ignored. She bounced up and down, angrily biting her lip with her nose flaring.

"With all due respect, My Lord, she's no use to us in this time." Severus took a breath. The creature had stopped pacing and was now back at the seat in which he'd originally sat, but still standing. Severus looked down away from the wall, then smoothly turned his attention towards the creature."Now, we've practically won. Wouldn't she be more use to us in the past, where she could make things run... more smoothly?"

"I'm too tired of _games._"He turned to address the rest of the table, including Bellatrix. "Keep our current course as planned, if Severus' plan works we shall know in due course." He paused for just a second, "And, Severus... If it doesn't, you can expect the worst."

The next words from his mouth weren't English, but rather hissing noises. The snake, Nagani, responded quickly, turning her head towards it's master. Meg quietly gasped as the snake moved around her, it hadn't moved very much since it was given it's first orders, and it's sudden movement startled her. Bellatrix and Draco turned to her suddenly as if they had forgotten Meg was still there, an evil grimace spreading across Bella's face. Nagani circled Meg a few more times before it's master called it's name, "Nagani, come."

The Snake pulled away from the distractions of the room and rejoined it's master, climbing his body until it rested on his shoulders. Not another second passed before the creature flew out the window in a streak of black smoke and it wasn't much longer before most everyone else had too. Meg pulled herself to her feet and quickly went for the stairs, her head still aching from the invasion of privacy. At the foot she was stopped by the sound of Bellatrix's voice. Meg stood with one foot on the first step, holding on the the rails, listening to the conversation in the dinning room.

"I don't believe you." Bellatrix sneered. "That's Meg, isn't it? How did you find her?"

"It was an accident. Not that it's important to you, the Dark Lord seems to have pushed you from his trusted circle lately, just like the rest of your immediate family." Severus said, coldly, almost mocking her.

Meg let herself fall, holding on the the side railing to sit down and looked back into the dinning room. Draco was gone and Mrs. Malfoy was standing to the side of the fireplace nervously watching. Severus was still standing at his place around the table, while Bellatrix's heels clicked against the floor. She was walking closer to Severus, her wand resting between her thumb and front two fingers in front of her chest. Calm as her wand hand looked, her face reflected a calm anger as she held her head high.

"How _dare_ you?" She angrily whispered, she threw her wand up not aiming it anywhere in particular. Severus slowly drew his own wand from his robes, careful of Bellatrix. Her voice grew to a high pitched scream, her face twisting with anger. "I've been loyal to the Dark Lord far more than you could ever dream. If anyone should be expelled from our Master it should be you. Protecting a _mud-blood_, it's pathetic. You seem to have a soft spot for them, don't yo-"

Bellatrix's voice faded, and the anger in her face was replaced with a calm fear when noticed Severus had also drawn his wand. Every line on his face was somber, and the mocking tone had left every feature. Bellatrix grinned, "Hit a soft spot have I?" Echoing into the hallway, her laugh filled the room. Suddenly, a green light shot from her wand towards Meg. She dodged away from the spell that left the stairs smoldering just a foot away from where she had sat. In the living room, Meg watched as Severus tensed up and flicked is wand in Bellatrix's direction.

Almost immediately her wand flew across the room. Bellatrix jumped at Severus screaming, her nose flaring and blackened teeth bare. Just before she pounced, he flicked his wand again slamming her into the opposite wall. Meg closed her eyes in time to just hear the wall crack. When she looked again, she saw that pictures of the Malfoy family fall to the ground along with many other ornaments hanging across the room. The plaster even broke, leaving a hole and many long cracks leading to the floor and ceiling.

Bellatrix rubbed her neck, pulling herself off the floor and wiped dust from her black dress. It took her a moment to gain her balance before she turned to Severus again. Her shoulders hunched when she stood up. She was sneering when she spoke again, "I always knew you're obsession with her would be your downfall, Snape."

"Obsession?" Severus raised one brow and scoffed. His wand was still drawn and ready to cast another spell should he need to. "Don't be stupid."

"Who knows it better than me, Snape?" Bellatrix boasted, now laughing, thinking she'd won. She couldn't care less that she'd been disarmed and flung across the room. Now she mocked him, openly without her previous accusations of mistrust. This she did for her own pleasure and games. "Always in the library, always looking for an answer, always searching for that _stupid, little, girl_."

Severus lowered his wand, his eye's narrowing as he brought his arms to his side. Bellatrix continued her moaning and mocking pacing the floor towards him with a limp, and his wand remained ready in his hand. Suddenly, Bellatrix was on the floor rubbing her face where Severus' had made contact. He pulled down his sleeve, slightly, and pointed his wand at her throat as she began to laugh. "I _have_ hit a nerve haven't I? What, don't want anyone to think badly of your precious Nutmeg?"

Severus didn't say a word for a few moments, then he knelled down to the floor where Bellatrix still sat. "Don't insult me—"

"Stop! Both of you." Draco's mother spoke up. She moved over to pick up Bellatrix wand where Severus had knocked it away. Nearly breathless, her hands were shaking when she bent down for the wand. Her heels clicked against the floor as she walked over to Severus and held her hand out as she approached him. "Severus, please."

Everyone stood in silence for a moment, Bellatrix was breathing heavily and Severus allowed Draco's mother to pull him away. He straightened up looking from one person to the next until he saw Meg, then immediately flew out the window in a black smoke as everyone else had earlier. Bellatrix and her sister remained in the dining room staring right at one another.

"Always have to get involved, don't you Narcissa?" Bellatrix snatched her wand from her sister's hand and disappeared just the same. Narcissa looked around at the damages in her dining room, fallen pictures, candles, the hole in her wall. Then she went to the door way and past the hall to the kitchen, not paying any attention to Meg who was still at the stairs.


	25. Chapter 25

~Chapter 25~

**Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story. **

The stairs creaked under Meg's feet as she tried to sneak up to the guest room. When she got there she stared at the welcoming bed for a long moment before closing the door behind her. She fell down onto the bed, sitting on the edge and pulled her knees to her chest and tried to rub away the small remainder of her headache. She soon zoned out, looking out the window as the argument downstairs replayed in her mind.

_ Always searching for that _stupid little girl. _I _have_ hit a nerve, haven't I?_—_Don't insult me._

She shook her head, trying not to think of what Severus could have meant. Tears formed in her eyes and she attempted to blink them away before one fell down her cheek. Meg glanced down at her bag, looking for any kind of distraction. The leather bound book that Severus had given her not long before Christmas break had fallen out and onto the floor. '_That's funny_...' She though, getting up to pick it up off the floor. She searched through the rest of her bag for the library book he'd suggested as well. When she finally found it, it felt cool in her hands from being at the bottom of the bag. '_I could have sworn I packed these together._'

"I might as well look at these anyway..." she said outloud, picking both books up. She threw the first book down, tattered and worn. it fell open to the bookmark she'd placed in it earlier, the golden letters shimmering on the page. The library book soon followed, landing cover side down. Meg wiped her eyes and face, but continued to cry. She didn't even know where to begin, she looked at the dwarfish words already overwhelmed and fell to the bed. She laid on her stomach, crossing her arms under her head, "I just want to go home."

. . .

Meg woke up in her clothes and her own handwriting on her face. She'd fallen asleep while studying the books again. It'd been a few days into Christmas break and she had spent the entire time in the Malfoy's guest room. Catching a quick glimpse of herself in the mirror, the notes she'd taken were now smudged where her face had been lying. Rubbing her eyes, Meg looked out the window to only see half the yard dimly lit by a few magical lamps and the rest of the view obscured by a thick fog. It was definitely after nine for it was dark outside beyond the lamps, but, by any guess it could have been close to morning.

There was a sudden knock at the door.

"Meg?" Draco's voice came through the wooden door. _Lost Languages of Magical Races _fell to the floor when she jumped. He knocked again before Meg got up to answer. She cracked the door as if it had a chain lock, only enough that Draco could see part of her face. He half stepped forward and stopped himself when he realized that Meg wasn't going to open the door further. Meg stared at the door frame then back at Draco, watching him stumble on his own thoughts. He'd only opened his mouth once, then paused and started to walk away only to come right back. She would have said something herself if she wasn't so shocked at his behavior, she never though she'd see him at a loss for words. He licked his lips, staring her hand on the edge of the door. Then a high pitched scream came from downstairs getting both of their attentions.

"Draco!" Bellatrix screamed again. He darted towards the stairs, not hesitating, and was soon followed by Meg. When they got downstairs, Meg was out of breath. Narcissa and Lucius were standing next to the fireplace, observers in their own home. A tall man with long tangled brown hair stood in the corner. He had a read streak in his hair and was wearing a black, tattered jacket, and a pink scarf that didn't quite match. With him was a werewolf and three others. The first was another wizard who looked much like the man with the scarf. The other two were no older than Draco: The girl had with long bushy, light brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. The boy had messy red hair and freckles. They looked much better than the men holding them, but still looked like they'd been sleeping in a tent for the last six months. Bellatrix grabbed Draco's attention, pulling it towards the last new face in the room. "Draco, we've found him! Is it him? Is it Potter?"

Bellatrix stood with another boy, his face swollen to a point beyond recognition. She pulled back his head, as if it would make his face any less swollen. Draco stood, nervously looking from his father to the boy that Bellatrix held. Meg lingered by the stairs, again, watching the boy and the two other captives. Bellatrix was getting impatient and excitedly asked, "Well!"

"I... I can't be sure." Draco finally responded. He was breathing heavy, but not due to running down the stairs. A look of terror had appeared on his face. He glanced at Meg, no one but him seemed to notice she was there. He swallowed hard looking the boy over again.

"Draco, look closely, son." Lucius stepped over from the fireplace, and loudly whispered to his son. Lucius wrapped his arms around Draco's shoulders, trying to encourage him to make up his mind. "If we are the ones to hand Potter over to the Dark Lord, everything will be forgivable... As it was. Understand?"

Draco nodded, but was interrupted by the man in the scarf, insult rising in his thick eastern accent, "Now, we won' be forgettin' w_ho ac'ually caugh' him_, I hope, Mr. Malfoy."

"How _dare_ you talk to me like that," Lucius hissed, Narcissa running up to calm him. "In my own house!"

"Lucius..." Narcissa whispered soothingly to her husband, pulling him back. He allowed her to guide him back to the fireplace, letting Bellatrix take hold of the situation.

"Don't be shy, Sweetie! Come over!" She panted, grabbing Draco's hand and pulling him down on his knees in front of the boy. "Now, if this isn't who we think it is and we _call_ him, he'll kill us _all. _We need to be absolutely sure!"

"What's wrong with his face?" Draco whispered.

"Yes, what is wrong with his face, Scabior?" Bellatrix demanded of the man with the scarf.

"He came to us like that. Somethin' he picked up in the forest, I reckon." Bellatrix gasped at Scabior's explanation.

"Ah, interesting jinx. Was it you dear?" Bellatrix pointed at the girl being held by the werewolf. The girl didn't respond and Draco stayed in front of the boy, not being able to look him in the eye. He, once again, glanced at Meg. This time their eyes met and he held his hand out to her while he stood up. Bellatrix continued to move towards the rest of the captives. "Give me her wand! We'll see what her last spell is."

Meg grabbed Draco's hand just in time for Narcissa to tap him on the shoulder. She urged them both to leave, silently while Bellatrix continued to talk. "I've got you now!" Bellatrix laughed, but it stopped abruptly when she turned to one of the other wizards who was holding a familiar sword. Meg recognized it as the sword of Gryffindor, though she'd only seen it in text. "Where'd you get that?"

"It was in her bag when we searched her," the man smiled, "I reckon it's mine now."

Bellatrix immediately cursed the man, sending him flying into the wall and the sword dropping to the floor. Narcissa pushed Meg and Draco up the stairs with out a word, and they kept going until they could see what was happening without being seen. Draco squeezed Meg's hand as they watched Bellatrix grab the sword and attack the werewolf and Scabior with her wand.

"Are you mad?" Scabior shouted just before a wip shot out of her wand and wrapped around his throat.

"Scum! _Scum!_" Bellatrix shouted at them, half releasing her spells. She grabbed the red haired boy and threw him over to Peter Pettigrew, who Meg had just noticed was in the room. "Put the boys in the cellar with the rest of them! I need to have a conversation with this one, _girl to girl!_"

Meg could feel her heart racing, the fear of Bellatrix's rage had worsened over the years. She was, arguably, clinically insane. Draco tried to pull on her hand, up the stairs, away from the scene, but she was stuck in place watching the helpless witch be attacked by Bellatrix. She through the girl to the ground and sat on her stomach. Meg closed her eyes listening to the girl whimpered under Bellatrix weight, now holding Draco's hand tight.

"You broke into my vault!" Bellatrix yelled as a blood-curdling scream came from the girl.

"Was it Harry Potter?" Meg's voice didn't raise above a whisper. She remembered the meeting that Neville and Luna had invited her to. They had told her of the boy who lived and Voldemort, she could only assume he was the creature that had invaded her mind earlier that week. Draco let go oh her hand and headed up the stairs. "Was it!"

"I..." Draco muttered something under his breath, but it was unmistakeable. The boy _was_ Harry Potter, which meant they had to help.

"Where's the cellar?" Meg asked, still whispering. Draco nervously looked into the living room, another scream escaping the girls lips. He flinched, then sighed.

"Follow me."


End file.
